Cover not available
Part of
Key Cultural Texts in Translation
Edited by Kirsten Malmkjær, Adriana Şerban and Fransiska Louwagie
[Benjamins Translation Library 140] 2018
► pp. 153–170

Chapter 9
The image of H. C. Andersen’s tales in China (1909–1925)

A case study of a set of Key Cultural Texts in translation

Using early translations and interpretations (1909–1925) of H. C. Andersen’s tales in China as an example of Key Cultural Texts in translation, this study will examine the major elements that influenced the Andersen translations and interpretations in the period from 1909, when Andersen’s tales were introduced to the Chinese readership, to 1925, when the first surge of translation occurred on the occasion of H. C. Andersen’s 150th birthday. I discuss the socio-historical environment, the purposes of introducing and translating this oeuvre, the human elements involved. I introduce and explain the concept of the “translated image” and discuss why certain translated images have been key to the Chinese understanding of Andersen’s works and Andersen the writer until the present day.

Keywords: Key Cultural Text, translated images, H. C. Andersen’s tales, Chinese translations
Article outline
  • 1.The concept of a “Key Cultural Text”
  • 2.H. C. Andersen’s tales as KCTs
  • 3.The early translations and introductions of Andersen’s tales
    • 3.1Social historical environment
    • 3.2Purposes of introduction and translation
    • 3.3Human elements involved in the translation and their influences
      • 3.3.1Patrons
      • 3.3.2Translators
      • 3.3.3Readers
    • 3.4The indirectness in Andersen translation and introduction
      • 3.4.1Indirectness in translation
      • 3.4.2Indirectness in interpretation
  • 4.The translated image of H. C. Andersen: A classic fairytale writer
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 16 May 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.140.09li
References
Andersen. Hans Christian
1855 Mit Livs Eventyr, trans. Horace E. Scudder. The Story of My Life (Author’s Edition). 1871. New York: Hurd and Houghton.Google Scholar
1870 “Advertisement”. In Stories and Tales (Author’s Edition). Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.Google Scholar
1914 “The Little Match Girl”. In Fairy Tales and other stories. Revised and in part newly translated by W. A. & J. K. Craigie. With ninety-five illustrations. (Oxford Complete Editions), 342–345. London: Humphrey Milford.Google Scholar
1964 “Den lille Pige med Svovlstikkerne”. In Eventyr of Historier. Vol. II. Erik Dal and Erling Nielsen (Eds.), 153–155. Copenhagen: Hans Reitzel.Google Scholar
Boyesen, Hjalmar Hjorth
1895 Essays on Scandinavian Literature. New York: C. Scribner’s sons.Google Scholar
Brandes, George
1886 Eminent authors of the nineteenth century. New York: T, Y, Crowell & co.Google Scholar
Even-Zohar, Itamar
1978 Translated literature in the polysystem. In Lawrence Venuti (Ed.), The Translation Studies Reader 2000 192–197) London. Routledge.Google Scholar
Feldbæk, Ole, et al.
1980 Kolonierne i Asien og Afrika. Copenhagen: Politiken.Google Scholar
Gosse, Edmund W.
1879 Studies in the Literature of Northern Europe. London: C.K. Paul & co.Google Scholar
1900 “Introduction”. In Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen. Hans Lien Brækstad trans. New York: New York Century Co.Google Scholar
Li, Hongye
2005 安徒生童话的中国阐释 [Chinese Interpretations of Andersen’s Fairy Tales]. Beijing: China Peace Publishing House.Google Scholar
2006 “安徒生在中国” [Andersen in China]. 中国比较文学 [Comparative Literature in China.] 3: 154–166.Google Scholar
Li, Jingduan
2003 “叶君健与《安徒生童话》中译本” [Ye Junjian and The Chinese Translation Andersen’s Fairy Tales ]. 出版史料 [Publication Archives] 1:21–23.Google Scholar
Lu, Xun
1934, June 24/1984 论重译[On retranslation]. In 翻译研究论文集 (1894–1948)[A Collection of Articles on Translation Studies (1894–1948)], The Editorial Department of. 翻译通讯[Translator's Notes] (Ed.), 238–239. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.Google Scholar
Pym, Anthony
2008 “Humanizing Translation History”. Hermes 42: 23–48.Google Scholar
Silverstein, Michael and Greg Urban
1996 Natural Histories of Discourse. Chicago/London: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Sun, Yuxiu
1909 “读欧美名家小说札记” [The Reading Notes on Famous European Short Story Writers]. 东方杂志 [Oriental Magazine] 6(1): 157–158.Google Scholar
Pedersen, Viggo H.
2004 Ugly Ducklings? Studies in the English Translations of Hans Christian Andersen’s Tales and Stories. Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag.Google Scholar
Van Doorslaer Luc, Flynn, Peter and Leerssen, Joep,
(eds) 2016 Interconnecting Translation Studies and Imagology (Vol. 119), Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zhao, Jingshen
1961/2008 “郑振铎与童话” [Zheng Zhenduo and Fairy Tales]. 儿童文学研究 [Research into Children’s literature], 12. In郑振铎纪念集 [Memorial Articles for Zheng Zhenduo], Wang Lianfen and Wang Xirong (Eds.), 141–144. Shanghai: Shanghai Academy of Social Science Press.Google Scholar
Zheng, Zhenduo
1921/1998 “译文学书的三个问题” [Three Issues on Literary Translation]. 小说月报 [The Short Story Magazine] , 12(3). In 郑振铎全集:第十五卷 [The Complete Works of Zheng Zhenduo: Vol.15], 49–76. Shijiazhuang: Huashan Literature & Art Press.Google Scholar
Zhou, Zuoren
1913 December/2005 “丹麦诗人安兑尔然传” [A Biography of Andersen, a Danish Poet]. 叒社丛刊 [Series of Society Ruo] . 1. In 中国安徒生研究一百年 [Andersen Research in China for One Hundred Years], Quangen Wang (Ed.), 1–7. Beijing: China Peach Publishing House.Google Scholar
1918/2005 〈读安徒生的十之九〉 [On Andersen’s Nine out of Ten ].《新青年》 [New Youth], 5(3). In 《中国安徒生研究一百年》[Andersen Research in China for One Hundred Years], Quangen Wang (Ed.), 8–13. Beijing: China Peach Publishing House.Google Scholar
1918.〈卖火柴的女儿〉 [The Little Match Girl].《新青年》 [New Youth], 6(1):30–33.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

Valdeón, Roberto A. & Youbin Zhao
2020. Literary translation research in China. Perspectives 28:5 ► pp. 645 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 20 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.