Translation as Self-Writing : Research on Hu Pin-Ching’S French Novels Translation

Project Details

Description

This project aims to discuss a Taiwanese translator Hu Pin-Ching’s(1921-2006)translation of French novels into Chinese version. This research means to backtrack the French novels’ value in the history of French literature, to review the importance of the translation and the meaning of the translated works from 1965 to 1985, the most active period of Ms. Hu’s translation career. The translated novels included Francois Mauriac’s Therese Desqueyroux and Marguerite Duras’ L’Amant. Furthermore, the research aims to analyze Ms. Hu’s double identity as translator and writer, and how did she deal with cross-languages, cross-cultures and cross-genres, when realizing self-writing between parallel translation and creation. Since 1962, Ms. Hu had lived along in Yangmingshan, she had been a French teacher and a translator at Chinese Cultural University. During the Cold War, Taiwan was isolated internationally, ideologically anti-communist. Under the imposition of martial law, there’s some influence on the translation strategy of French literature. Under the unstable political situation and cultural break, the island where Ms. Hu lived was isolated, similar situation as her translation. At the other side, translation for her was an unrestrained and liberal field. As a translator, she was ever more sensible to the literary world. Also, as a poet and an essayist, she had never written any novel, but had translated a lot of French novels instead, which could be a way to satisfy her desire of fictional creation. Some examples of self-expression in her essays could be referred to the mentioned issue. Translation is different from liberal creation, the first offers a way of self-composition. In the shadow of interpreting others’ work, she was braiding herself by translation; located in the fragmental time and space of the island, she reconstructed the overall imagination and reflected the image of French literature by her translation. Translation became a work of mixture and pick up which could be a strategy of resistance in her life. Her translation works similar to some rafting rhizome, were refined from the language of origin, as certain organism available to be planted elsewhere for a continuation of life.
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date1/08/1831/10/19

UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This project contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 15 - Life on Land
  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
  • SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

Keywords

  • Hu Pin-Ching
  • French literature
  • literary translation
  • intertextuality

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