Arts of the Contact Zone

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Lost in Translation or Gained in Creation:

Classical Chinese Poetry Re-Created as English Poetry1

Roslyn Joy Ricci

Centre for Asian Studies

University of Adelaide

Introduction

The well-known Robert Frost2 witticism that 'poetry is what disappears in translation'

is only valid if poetic translation aims to produce a 'perfect re-creation of the original,'3

however, I suggest that successful translators re-create poetry in another language as opposed

to translating it into a second language.4 The aim of re-creating poetry is to attempt to produce

the same reader-response as the original poem did. This generic formula holds true in the

specific case of Chinese poetry re-created as English poetry. I use the term 're-created' for

poetic translation because literal translation of poetry struggles to produce the same reader

response as the original poem does.

1 'This paper was presented at the 15th Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of

Australia in Canberra 29th June-2 July 2004. It has been peer-reviewed and appears on the Conference

Proceedings website by permission of the author who retains copyright. The paper will be

downloaded for fair use under the Copyright Act (1954), its later amendments and other relevant

legislation.'

2 American poet Robert Frost (1874-1963).

3 James JY Liu, The Poetry of Li Shang-yin, 1969, p. 34.

4 Yan Fu (1853-1921) set the standard for translation from a modern Chinese perspective: primarily

'xмn' (faithfulness), then d* (fluency) and finally y* elegant). Elegance must give way to fluency and

fluency to faithfulness.

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This paper explores the challenges to, and strengths of, classical Chinese poetry recreated

as English poetry as a transcultural poetry integral to a world poetic critique as

proposed by Stephen Owen. It examines issues of contextualisation, critical theories, notions

of 'Otherness' and the possibility of 'world poetry' along with Owen's reply to my reading of

his thesis.

During the latter half of the twentieth-century, the trend of presenting poems in the light of

critical theory and within their historical context continued to dominate the genre of classical

Chinese poetry re-created as English poetry. Both Chinese and Western critical theories were

used, sometimes jointly and at other times in isolation. However, the application of Western

critical theories to re-created Chinese poetry is problematic because it imposes the values of

Western discourse on an artistic product of the East. So, what are the consequences of using a

Western theoretical paradigm to critique classical Chinese poetry?

Theoretical Paradigms

Edward Said's 1978 seminal text, Orientalism,5 warns scholars about a 'structure of cultural

domination'6 that interprets Eastern cultures7 through a Western paradigm. One might well

argue, however, that Said's use of a Western critical framework to express this concern still

favours hegemonic Western interests. Moreover, Said fails to acknowledge the extent to

which Asian intellectuals contribute to conceptual and practical Orientalism.8 Nevertheless,

omissions by Said9 do not rule out the existence of a structural imbalance. Accepting the

imposts of orientalism, how can the dilemma be addressed?

Said suggests that the work of the 'critical scholar' is to find the connections between Eastern

and Western 'struggles over historical and social meaning,' despite differences.10 This idea is

developed by postcolonial theorist Arif Dirlik. He suggests producing discourse that escapes

'the burden' of Orientalism by recasting historical, cultural and political relationships in the

context of contemporary thought - providing 'new theoretical departures in literary and

5 Edward Said, Orientalism, 1978.

6 Ibid, p. 25.

7 Ibid, pp. 202/203: 'The Orient that appears in Orientalism, then, is a system of representations framed

by a set of forces that brought the orient into Western learning, Western consciousness, and later,

Western Empire ... Orientalism is a school of interpretation whose material happens to be the Orient,

its civilizations, peoples and localities.'

8 Said 1978, p. 105.

9 Arif Dirlik, 'Chinese History and the Question of Orientalism,' History and Theory, vol. 35, issue 4,

1996, pp. 96-119.

10 Edward Said, Orientalism: 'Afterward' dated 1994, 1995, p. 332.

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cultural criticism.'11 Dirlik suggests that 'contact zones,' as coined by Mary Louise Pratt,

prove useful12 in conceptualising 'the space in which