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Part of
Transnational Books for Children 1750-1900: Producers, consumers, encounters
Edited by Charlotte Appel, Nina Christensen and M.O. Grenby
[Children’s Literature, Culture, and Cognition 15] 2023
► pp. 69–88

Chapter 3
“Altering the original fables
to suit Chinese notions”

A case study of Robert Thom’s Yishi yuyan
意拾喻言 (1840)

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The Yishi yuyan, a Chinese translation of Aesop’s fables based largely on the collection by Roger L’Estrange (1616–1704), was published circa 1840 by Robert Thom (1807–1846), with his Chinese tutor as co-translator. This chapter examines the sinicization of the Yishi yuan by investigating how the translators recontextualized a culturally appropriate context for the integration of various Chinese literary sources in their narration and reflection of the fables. Following a discussion of the rendering of L’Estrange’s Aesop into Chinese, the key elements that facilitated the success of sinicization of the Yishi yuyan are analysed to illustrate the sinicization techniques and strategies employed by the translators in adapting L’Estrange’s Aesopic fables to a Chinese narrative.

Article outline
  • The adaptability of L’Estrange’s Aesop into Chinese
  • The transnational nature of the Yishi yuyan : Chinese agency at play
  • Altering “the original fables to suit Chinese notions”: A textual analysis
  • Transferring cultural narratives through adaptation
  • Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 8 August 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/clcc.15.03bai
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