The World, the Text, and the Translator: An Interview with Renowned Sinologist and Translator Prof. Dr. Riccardo Moratto

Abstract

Abstract This interview examines the unique value of Chinese classical poetry and modern literature in translation from the perspective of Prof. Dr. Riccardo Moratto, a renowned translator and Sinologist. Professor Moratto presents the basic picture of the translation and dissemination of Chinese literature in Italy, and shares his fundamental ideas on Chinese literary translation. In the classical poetry translation process, Professor Moratto is committed to the greatest possible extent to conveying the “xing” quality of the Chinese poetic tradition, to restoring the formal characteristics of the original poems, to preserving the poetic meaning, and constructing the cultural imagery and cultural heterogeneity carried by the poems. Through his selection of works and skilful translations, Professor Moratto presents to the target readership the unique individual life experiences and Chinese cultural imagery associated with the selected works. He believes that literary translation builds the path of shared human experience, showing the choices people make in different contexts vis-à-vis different situations, and that readers of the translated language expand their Weltanschauung through “empathy”. At the end of the interview, Professor Moratto points out that the greatest value of translating Chinese literature and the mission of translators is to bring forth the unique wisdom of the Chinese people, which is carried for example in the I Ching, so that target readers can perceive the “inner transcendence” that is different from the “outer transcendence” of Western culture and can understand the fundamental wisdom of the “Middle Way” ().