“Focalization” and Its Chinese Translation

Abstract

“Focalization” has become a high-frequency word in modern Chinese vocabulary, and it is also often used in the discussion of Western Narratology, but when it comes to the Chinese literature, especially the traditional narratives, Chinese scholars still prefer the term “perspective” and the like. Why is the term “focalization” incompatible with Chinese narrative? The reason may lie in the huge difference in the way of spatial representation in Chinese culture and occidental culture, and this difference becomes most evident in painting. As is known to all, the “projection” mode in Chinese drawings is “cavalier perspective”, which is free to move from one to another, while that in Western paintings is “focus perspective”, which stays and disappears at one point. Similarly, Western narrative from Homer all the way down to the medieval romance and then the picaresque novel, let alone the novels after the eighteenth century, tends to “focalize” on a single protagonist, around whose action the narrative unfolds. By contrast, in Chinese narrative, “focalization” is not that important, and the focus keeps shifting from one character to another. “Focalization” does not suit Chinese narrative in much the same way as Western boxing terms do not properly suit Tai Chi Quan in China. Both are useful in their own terms, and Chinese scholars should guard against any form of “West envy”.