Translating verbal music in C.C. Jane Lai’s English translation of the Cantonese Opera Farewell My Concubine

Between July 3 and July 28, 2023, Television Broadcasts Limited released the Hong Kong drama Unchained Medley, which used a small village in the countryside and Cantonese Opera as the backdrop for the drama. It tells a tragic and touching story of human-ghost love between pop musician Ivan Zhang and the female ghost Wan Lau Fong (Cantonese transliteration is used). Artistic elements in Unchained Medley - Cantonese Opera is an ancient form of traditional Chinese theater, a local performing art that employs Cantonese as the language of performance, singing, acting, reciting and traditional folk music, along with distinctive stage costumes and abstract forms. When reviewing Chinese and English papers published between 2019 and 2023, research on the analysis of Cantonese opera primarily focused on the transformation of performance forms and the creation of Cantonese opera repertoire content. However, there needs to be more in living inheritance with Cantonese Opera. This paper utilizes James W. Careys The Ritual View of Communication as a theoretical framework. The article mainly adopts methods such as literature review, case studies, and comparative analysis to elucidate the significance and complex dilemmas surrounding the vibrant communications of Cantonese opera in the post-COVID world. It then consolidates and summarizes research experiences related to the protection and universal transmission of Cantonese opera in every aspect, laying the foundation for the in-depth development of Cantonese opera research.

V.N. Komissarov as a famous theoretician in the sphere of translation was introduced to his Chinese colleagues in 1984, when modern translation theory just started in China. For forty years now, his translation theories have been disseminated, adopted, and developed. V.N. Komissarov’s major works, including Questions of Translation Theory in Foreign Linguistics (1978), Linguistics of Translation (1980), Translation Theory (Linguistic Aspects) (1990) and Modern Translation Studies (1999), have been reviewed in Chinese academic journals. His last monograph, Modern Translation Studies (2004), was translated into Chinese. Chinese translation studies introduced his theoretical ideas in the sphere of translation, such as the nature of translation, translation equivalence, translation models, translation correspondences, translation norms, translation pragmatics, textological aspects of translation studies, cultural and sociological aspects of translation studies, translation teaching methodology, etc. Certain ideas, such as pragmatic translation adaptation, have been further developed. In general, V.N. Komissarov’s theoretical viewpoints have been studied and summarized in many scientific papers and various works, which contributed to the development of Chinese translation theory. Moreover, his translation thoughts are widely used by Chinese scholars for theoretical research and the training of future translators. Some of V.N. Komissarov’s views are applied to the study of the function of cultural translation, translation adaptation, the definition of translation, translation of the national style of speech and other theoretical problems. The scholar’s theory of translation is most often used to address a variety of issues in translation practice. The most influential theory is undoubtedly the theory of translation equivalence. While using this theory, numerous master theses and translation reports analyze issues in both fiction and information translation, as well as problems in interpretation and audiovisual translation.

Cantonese opera, a comprehensive art integrating literature, music, performance, and makeup, is a significant part of Chinese traditional culture. However, given its rich multimodal characteristics, translating Cantonese opera poses unique challenges. This paper, grounded in multimodal discourse analysis theory, delves into the last act of the Cantonese opera <i>The Flower Princess (Fragrant Sacrifice) </i>to explore multimodal collaboration and meaning reconstruction in its English translation. Employing case analysis as the main research method, the study demonstrates the complementary and collaborative relations of multimodal factors in the English translation from four dimensions: culture, context, content, and expression. At the cultural level, it shows how to convey Chinese cultural values such as “loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, and righteousness”. In the contextual aspect, it explains how to reconstruct the historical context of the Ming-Qing transition era presented in the opera. Regarding content, it elaborates on accurately narrating the love story and historical background, and in terms of expression, it focuses on reproducing the tense atmosphere and emotional tone of the original. The research also points out potential problems in the translation process. For example, visual cultural elements like the detailed descriptions of palace settings and the cultural implications of actors' costumes are often lost in translation, and the speech intonation and rhythm unique to Cantonese opera are difficult to replicate in English. Therefore, it emphasizes the necessity of comprehensively considering the multimodal characteristics of the script in translation practice. By selecting targeted English translation strategies and methods, such as adding cultural annotations for visual elements and carefully choosing words to approximate the original rhythm, it is possible to more accurately convey the deep-seated cultural and artistic values of Cantonese opera. This research is expected to contribute to the inheritance and development of Cantonese opera culture on the international stage, promoting cross-cultural communication and understanding of this traditional Chinese art form.

Cantonese Opera, a prominent genre of Chinese traditional opera, showcases the rich heritage and artistic appeal of Chinese culture through its distinct singing style, gestures, costumes, and facial makeup. Despite its cultural significance, Cantonese Opera faces challenges in reaching international audiences due to linguistic and cultural barriers. This paper explores the physical movements and linguistic features of the Cantonese opera Red Boat during its performance, based on a self-built bilingual multimodal corpus of Cantonese opera. It also conducts an analysis of the coordination between the English and Chinese lyrics and recited lines and physical movements. The study reveals that, although the translation retains the catchy nature in terms of tone and rhythm, challenges still exist in the integration of English lyrics with stage actions. When conducting multimodal translation research on Opera, attention should be paid to the coordination between stage action cues and lyrics recited lines in the English translation. This research provides a methodological reference for the multimodal English translation of Cantonese opera and offers new insights for promoting the international dissemination of Chinese Opera.

Background. The introduction provides a brief overview of the major translations of Shevchenko's works into English and the first reviews of Shevchenko's work in foreign criticism. Methods.The method of comparative translation, historical and philological analysis, the method of quantitative calculations, as well as the ecological theory used in modern translation studies are applied. Results. The article analyzes the methodological features of the interpretation of Taras Shevchenko's original works "Kateryna" and "My Testament" on the example of John Weir's English translations; in the context of the principles of ecological translation studies, the author considers certain techniques of English poetic translation that allow achieving semantic correspondence with the original while preserving ethno-cultural information. According to Nazim Hikmet, "...there are poets of one city, one village, one nation, but there are poets of all cities, all villages, all nations". Taras Shevchenko became such a poet – a poet of all nations – for the world, and his works continue to interest and excite not only Ukrainians, but also the Western world. Conclusions. The proof of this is the fact that today Shevchenko is translated into English, the most widespread language in the world, more intensively than ever before. And each translator interprets the works of this Ukrainian genius poet in a slightly different way, depending on the peculiarities of the cultural environment in which the translator was born and works. All these peculiarities of the translator's linguistic and cultural profile in the environment of their specific culture are studied by a new field of translation studies called ecotranslatology, or ecological translation studies, within which the research for this article was conducted.

The Chinese government has recently prioritised traditional opera education, promoting university–community collaborations. However, university music students are primarily trained in Western classical music, with limited exposure to traditional opera. This exploratory case study investigated the learning experiences of postgraduate students (N = 17) with backgrounds in Western classical music participating in a one-year university–community Cantonese opera programme in Guangzhou, China. Data were collected through participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Schippers’ Twelve Continuum Transmission Framework served as an analytical lens to examine how different modes of music transmission shape the conflicts in students’ learning processes. The findings revealed significant challenges for the students, including difficulties mastering the techniques of Cantonese opera, pedagogical limitations stemming from instructors’ limited experience, and misaligned expectations between the university and the community centre. Despite the challenges, the students gained substantial benefits, including improvements in musical skills, a deeper conceptual understanding of Cantonese opera in a community context and an increasing enthusiasm for future research, teaching and learning related to Cantonese opera. The study recommends a hybrid pedagogical model combining traditional oral transmission methods with the structured, analytical approaches. It also emphasises fostering long-term university–community collaborations to sustain and advance Cantonese opera education.

On the spectrum of translation, one might place an original on the left and the translation on the right. The further to the right the translation is, the more deviation from the original there could be. Translators are prone to consider readers' needs and go against the authors' creative intentions. It is hard to find a translation that is perfectly true to the original; even those that reach this ideal would add the translators' personal interpretation in one way or another. According to functionalism, cross-cultural adaptation is a kind of translation in a broad sense. Shakespeare's plays have become classics in theaters worldwide. ”Shake-xiqu” (Chinese opera adapted from Shakespearean plays) can be traced back to the last century, and it is also worthy of study in the field of translation. This article takes ”The Merchant of Venice” as an example to discuss the ”alternative translation” of Shake-xiqu in the context of cultural penetration, play genres, the delimitation of character types and language translation. Case studies are focused on ”Daughter from a Wealthy Family”, a Cantonese opera, and Bond, of Yuju. The former featured Ngai Wai-Ying (2009), director of Cantonese Opera Theatre. The latter featured Wang Hailing, the queen of Taiwan Bangzi opera.

The article is focused on the role of translation criticism in the modern translation studies. Every translator in his work aims for achieving linguistic coherence between the Source Text (ST) and Target Text (TT). The notion of translation criticism, which is an important measure of achieving this goal by the translator, is highlighted. The theory of scenes and frames in modern translation studies is also analysed in the article.

The article is focused on the ways of realization translation criticism in the modern translation studies. The main aim for the translators in their works is to achieve linguistic coherence between the Source Text (ST) and Target Text (TT). The notion of translation criticism, which is an important measure of achieving this goal by the translator, is highlighted. The theory of scenes and frames in modern translation studies is also analysed in the article.

As the birthplace of Cantonese opera, Foshan takes the lead in the inheritance, protection, and development of Cantonese opera. Foshan has invested heavily in the development, inheritance, and promotion of Cantonese opera, and has made great efforts. Nowadays, Cantonese opera is flourishing in various organizational forms in the settlements of overseas Chinese around the world, and is very popular among local Chinese and foreign people. Foshan Cantonese opera needs to vigorously promote the translation and dissemination of Cantonese opera to the outside world. In the translation of Foshan Cantonese opera classics, translators should take "conveying essence and meaning" as the overall guiding principle.

The Cantonese opera was traditionally transmitted by an apprenticeship approach, which has faded out in the mid-twentieth century. Instead, the conservatory approach adapted from the West has replaced the major mode of nurturing professional artists in China and Hong Kong. This study aims to investigate and examine the current practice of the conservatory approach in nurturing professional artists for the field of Cantonese opera. Two institutions from South China and Hong Kong were the subjects of this case study with observation and interviews as research tools. A cross-case analysis reveals that modern institutions have transformed the transmission mode of the traditional genre. While concentration on formal learning in the conservatory tradition may lead to efficient training, advantages from informal and non-formal learning adopted by the apprenticeship approach are abandoned. An eclectic approach is implied for improvement in nurturing professional artists for the Cantonese opera.

This essay surveys commonalities and differences between Antoine Berman, a philosopher, and Paul Ricoeur, a hermeneutic philosopher, and thereby tries discover where and how Translation Studies and hermeneutics might come into contact. Ricoeur and Berman are known as leading representatives of modern hermeneutics and modern Translation Studies, respectively. Ricoeur, however, takes as his last philosophical topic in the context of his research about the problematics of meaning, textual interpretation, Self-and-Other. On the other hand, Berman incorporates a variety of philosophers' thoughts on - such as Schleiermacher's, Benjamin's, Heidegger's, and Derrida's - into today's Translation Studies, and thereby develops philosophical in Translation Studies that we can call philosophy, per se. These two different scholars, belonging two different fields, called hermeneutics and Translation Studies, meet in the realm of translation. Their encounter becomes concrete in that they continue quote each other. In his major works, Berman constantly refers Ricoeur's hermeneutics. And Ricoeur intensively discusses Berman in dealing with the problem of translation as the last topic of his intellectual Odyssey.1 The present investigation was ignited, first and foremost, by our curiosity into what made both of them cite each other's work. Therefore, it is the purpose of this essay consider their philosophical systems in themselves. Rather, we are going focus on a number of themes that touch both Berman's and Ricoeur's thoughts. More precisely stated, we are going see, on the level of and interpretation, where their perspectives on the nature of a text share commonalities and where they show differences. Commonalities Hermeneutics and Translation Studies are Heterogeneous and Non-Scientific Berman and Ricoeur claim clear-cut positions concerning how define knowledge in hermeneutics and Translation Studies. Let us look at Berman first. Berman defines Translation Studies as reflections on the unique experience called text translation.2 Here, reflective Translation Studies contrasts with translatics (traductique) based on technical engineering and informatics. Translatics, trying be literally scientific, overlooks the importance of reflection on translating experiences. Berman believes that translatics alone can never clarify or describe a culture's inherent drive meet new cultures through and thereby elevate itself. Therefore, he believes that Translation Studies is non-unifiable and has encompass all the plural and heterogeneous experiences. He proclaims that to postulate the possibility of a global and unique theory unifying the entirety of translating activities is overlook the fact that the space of is definitely plural, heterogeneous, and non-unifiable.3 Berman further reminds us that the truth and value of a text are only revealed through the experiences of and can hardly be analyzed through an objective-scientific approach. His argument can be taken as a warning today's discussions on translation, which tend be expressed in empiricist and scientific-oriented tones. Surprisingly enough, Berman's standpoint is very similar Ricoeur's hermeneutical perspective. Ricoeur also claims it is impossible establish general and unified principles concerning interpretation. According Ricoeur, there is no general hermeneutics, no universal canon for exegesis, but only disparate and opposed theories concerning the rules of interpretation. The hermeneutic field, whose outer contours we have traced, is internally at variance with itself.4 In brief, then, Berman and Ricoeur do think that Translation Studies and hermeneutics should be scientific. Of course, not scientific does mean anti-scientific, subjective, or biased. …

The author points out that modern Translation Studies tends to focus on textual studies of modern translations and she argues that old translations may equally well serve to illustrate translation strategies. Referring to the concept of ‘equivalence’ she draws attention to the translation of the Latin philosopher Boethius by the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343–1400). There are two attested contemporary references to Chaucer's translations. The author discusses the choice of the source text and then discusses various translation strategies used by Chaucer. They range from word‐by‐word renditions over glosses to underlying philosophical issues. She concludes that Chaucer chose a ‘close’ translation strategy in order to render the meaning of the source text.

The article presents a review of the key trends in modern Translation Studies (TS) made after thorough analysis of the most fundamental works written in various fields of TS. The review proves that not only the range of problems within TS is now more diversified, which is related to many changes in the nature of translation activity, but Translation Studies are an interdisciplinary science now and uses data from neighboring disciplines. Specific “turns” have occurred in Translation Studies, and new paradigms of translation investigation have emerged. The most important phenomena in Translation Studies include “cultural turn” and the so called “anthropocentric turn” that has given birth to communicative-functional approach to translation. This approach implies “plunging” into the communicative situation of translation, and its analysis aimed at realizing the goal of translation by the translator/interpreter. It allows a more precise formulation of tasks solved by translators in both traditional types of translation (literary translation, religious translation, interpreting) and relatively new kinds of translation activity (audiovisual translation, localization). The article proves that translation proper is the main element of any activity performed by translators while any translation activity implies cultural adaptation of the text to the perception of the source text audience. The principal feature of Translation Studies is being practice-oriented, and their focus on the study of objective laws of translation activity. It enables translation scholars to understand peculiarities of various types of translation and to realize the essence of translation as a human activity.

Modern translation studies is characterized by increased attention to research on cognitive aspects of translation activity. One of the prevailing ideas of modern approaches is the desire to bring cognition beyond the limits of the human brain and consciousness and to expand the study of cognition to the level of situationally conditioned interaction with the environment and cognitive involvement of this environment. Thus, modern translational accents of cognitive research are shifted, in particular towards, equally as well as due to, situatedness and embodiment. Scholars are interested not only in what actually happens in the human brain; they seek to expand the subject matter of the issue to include all surrounding human hypostases, including experience, worldview, individual history and environment. Such a point of view is well-argued, since modern translation activity is determined by a number of factors: time limits for translation, encorporated digital tools for translation, editorial and publishing intervention, reader request, the niche that this translation is intended to fill, personal characteristics of the translator (age, gender, previous experience, intuition, creative abilities, education, talent, competence, zeal, etc.). In this context, consideration of various manifestations of the translator’s cognitive strategy, – effort, resource, stylistic characteristics, and creativity, – acquires special significance. A theoretical and critical analysis and systematization of approaches to the study of the concepts of cognitive resource, cognitive shift, judgment and evaluation performed by the translator were addressed within the scope of the topic. Cognitive resource in this paper is considered as a key component of the translator’s personal competencies and includes such components as: effort, attention, emotions, creativity, intelligence, skills, and experience. The consequence of various modifications from the perspective of the cognitive resource of the translator, to a certain extent, is a cognitive shift, which is interpreted from the perspective of creativity and appropriateness of the application. The appropriateness of the final usage will be considered by the translator at the evaluation and judgment stage. Within the scope of the investigation, we managed to outline the current state of the study of cognitive phenomena from the viewpoint of translator’s creative and intellectual efforts, emphasizing the attempt to comprehend the idea of cognitive process and the acquisition of experience expressed in the cognitive aspects of translation activity.