The Chinese Translation of Russian Literature Sinica Leidensia
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The Chinese Translation of Russian Literature Sinica Leidensia Edited by Barend J. ter Haar In co-operation with P. K. Bol, D. R. Knechtges, E. S. Rawski, W. L. Idema, E. Zürcher †, H. T. Zurndorfer VOLUME 90 The Chinese Translation of Russian Literature Three Studies By Mark Gamsa LEIDEN • BOSTON 2008 Cover illustration: Samovar and teacups. After an idea by Ursula Stadler Gamsa. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gamsa, Mark, 1970– The Chinese translation of Russian literature : three studies / by Mark Gamsa. p. cm. — (Sinica leidensia ; v. 90) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-16844-2 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Russian literature—20th century—Translations into Chinese—History and criticism. 2. Translating and interpreting—China—History—20th century. 3. Savinkov, B. V. (Boris Viktorovich), 1879–1925—Criticism and interpretation. 4. Artsybashev, M. P. (Mikhail Petrovich), 1878–1927—Criticism and interpretation. 5. Andreev, L. N. (Leonid Nikolaevich), 1871–1919—Criticism and interpretation. 6. Lu Xun, 1881–1936—Criticism and interpretation. I. Title. PG2985.G36 2008 495.1’8029171—dc22 2008027646 ISSN 0169-9563 ISBN 978 90 04 16844 2 Copyright 2008 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands Translation (noun): 1. the process of translating words or text from one language into another. 2. the process of moving something from one place to another. The New Oxford Dictionary of English (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998). CONTENTS Abbreviations used in notes ........................................................ ix Conventions ................................................................................ xi List of illustrations ...................................................................... xiii Introduction ................................................................................ 1 I. Three Russian writers ..................................................... 2 II. The translation of Russian literature in China .............. 16 III. Aims and method; state of the fi eld ............................... 25 Chapter One Savinkov and the technique of translation ...... 49 I. Kon’ Blednyi and its author ............................................... 49 “A philosophy of revolution”, and a challenge to “revolutionary literature” ........................................ 56 II. The Pale Horse in China ................................................... 62 The intermediary: Zinaida Vengerova’s English translation ................................................... 63 The Chinese translation by Zheng Zhenduo ............. 69 III. The reception of Huise ma .............................................. 83 The translator’s interpretation .................................... 83 Response: critical and creative .................................... 92 Chapter Two Artsybashev and the ideology of translation ... 107 I. The author of Sanin and Shevyrev .................................... 107 Sanin ............................................................................. 109 Worker Shevyrev ............................................................... 116 II. Sanin and Shevyrev in China ............................................. 120 Shaning and individualism ............................................ 120 Gongren Suihuilüefu, and Lu Xun as a translator of Artsybashev .............................................................. 141 Chapter Three Appropriation and decline; the channels of translation ............................................................................... 190 I. “Bloodstains” from 1905 to 1925, and the rise of Marxist criticism .......................................................... 190 II. Intermediaries .................................................................. 205 III. A story, essay and play—and their translators ............... 213 viii contents Chapter Four Andreev and the practice of translation .......... 228 I. The translator as an engaged intellectual ....................... 232 II. The translator as a political activist ................................ 247 III. Translating, and adapting for the theatre ....................... 260 IV. Translation in a collective ............................................... 275 Chapter Five The translator’s profession ................................ 289 I. The translation market of the 1910s .............................. 289 II. Putative professionals ....................................................... 304 III. Decadents and agents of the modern ............................ 323 IV. Occasional translators, and forgotten names .................. 339 Conclusion .................................................................................. 359 I. The Russian “Silver age” in China ................................ 359 II. The translator in society ................................................. 365 III. The travels of the Russian book ..................................... 368 Annex Three Russian writers in Chinese translation, 1909–1950 ............................................................................... 371 Acknowledgements ..................................................................... 387 Bibliography ................................................................................ 389 Glossary ....................................................................................... 415 Index ........................................................................................... 419 ABBREVIATIONS USED IN NOTES CYT: Chen Yutang 陳玉堂, Zhongguo jinxiandai renwu minghao da cidian 中國近現代人物名號大辭典 (Dictionary of Names and Styles of Chinese Personalities of the Early Modern and Modern Periods), 2nd, revised ed. Hangzhou: Zhejiang guji chubanshe, 2005. HSM: Huise ma 灰色馬 (The Pale Horse), by V. Ropshin (Boris Sav- inkov), trans. Zheng Zhenduo. Serialized in Xiaoshuo yuebao 小 說月報 vol. 13, nos. 7–8, 10–12 (1922). LXQJ: Lu Xun quanji 魯迅全集 (The Complete Works of Lu Xun). (1973) Beijing: Renmin wenxue chubanshe, 1973, in 20 vols. (2005) Beijing: Renmin wenxue chubanshe, 2005, in 18 vols. PH: The Pale Horse, trans. Zinaida Vengerova. Dublin and London: Maunsel, 1917. ZFC: Zhongguo fanyijia cidian 中國翻譯家辭典 (Dictionary of Chi- nese Translators). Beijing: Zhongguo duiwai fanyi chubanshe, 1988. ZFWS: Meng Zhaoyi 孟昭毅 and Li Zaidao 李載道, eds., Zhongguo fanyi wenxue shi 中國翻譯文學史 (A History of Translated Lit- erature in China). Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 2005. ZXFW: Xie Tianzhen 謝天振 and Zha Mingjian 查明建, eds., Zhong- guo xiandai fanyi wenxue shi (1898–1949) 中國現代翻譯文學史 (1898–1949) (A History of Translated Literature in Modern China). Shanghai: Shanghai waiyu jiaoyu chubanshe, 2003. The 1973 edition of Lu Xun’s Complete Works (a reprint of the fi rst edition of 1938) is used for Lu Xun’s translations, as these were not included either in the 16-volume edition of 1981 or in the 18-volume edition of 2005. The publisher Renmin wenxue in Beijing is also due to bring out a complete edition of Lu Xun’s translations, Lu Xun yiwen ji, in ten volumes. CONVENTIONS In order to make this study accessible to a wider range of readers, some terms and references to historical events familiar to specialists in Chinese or Russian literature are explained in the text. In the bibliographical list, titles of sources in both languages are translated into English. Footnote references to sources listed in the Bibliography are given in abridged form, while full citation is used only for those less relevant sources, which the Bibliography omits. Chinese titles, personal and place-names, are all given in the now standard Hanyu pinyin transcrip- tion, with the usual exceptions of Chiang Kai-shek and Sun Yat-sen. The capital of China was known to the world as Peking during most of the 20th century; adhering to this single appellation will save us the need of distinguishing between Beijing and Beiping (the offi cial name of the city when the national capital was Nanjing, then known in the West as Nanking, from 1928 to 1949). For reasons of greater historical familiarity and period fl avour, the use of Canton in pre-1949 context has been similarly preferred, though readers will notice that Beijing and Guangzhou appear in references to the PRC period, and in all publication data. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Chapter One 1. Boris Savinkov in Genoa prison, April 1922 .................... 50 2. Zinaida Vengerova, around 1896 ...................................... 64 3. Zheng Zhenduo, in 1923 or 1924 .................................... 70 4. Cover of Ropshin, trans. Zheng Zhenduo, Huise ma (The Commercial Press, 1924) .......................................... 90 Chapter Two 1. Mikhail Artsybashev. Frontispiece of Revolutionsgeschichten (Munich and Leipzig: Georg Müller, 1909) ...................... 108 2. Mikhail Artsybashev.