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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
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