Lin Yutang Research Articles

A Study on the English Translation on Chapter Two of Tao Te Ching from the Perspective of Eco-Translatology: Lin Yutang’s and James Legge's Versions

Chu Culture includes material civilization and spiritual civilization created by Chu people in their working life, and it is an important part of Chinese civilization. Besides Lisao and Tianwen, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu is also deeply influenced by Chu culture. Under the guidance of eco-translation theory, this paper takes Chapter two of Tao Te Ching as an example, selects Lin Yutang’s and James Legge’s translations as the research objects, and analyzes them from the perspectives of language, culture and communication, respectively. The purpose is to explore whether the eco-translation theory can apply to the previous English translations of Tao Te Ching, and to further understand the implicit relationship between Chu culture and Tao Te Ching.

Translationese and interlanguage in inverse translation: A case study

AbstractCurrent translation studies do not present a clear distinction between ‘translationese’ and ‘interlanguage’, giving rise to conceptual and terminology confusion. To disentangle these two concepts, we start with a relatively conservative working definition of translationese, then find it necessary to first differentiate between direct and inverse translations, according to whether the translator's L1 equals to TL or not. Taking Zhuangzi (a Daoist classic) as a case, we made both inter- and intra-speaker comparisons among Lin Yu-tang's inverse translation, James Legge's direct translation, and the two translators' creative works in English, with well-established language complexity metrics and quantitative methods. Results show that: (1) Inverse and direct translations are remarkably different in terms of complexity; (2) Inverse translation demonstrates both features of interlanguage and translationese, with the former mostly at lexical level and the latter at syntactic level; (3) Similar patterns are also discovered in Lin's other inverse translated works, suggesting our quantitative comparative method proposed may be reliable to some extent. Such results support our proposal that translationese and interlanguage should and can be differentiated for both theoretical and practical purposes.

Overlapping or Reshaping: Chinese Image in Lin Yutang’s Trans-creation Works

Overlapping or Reshaping: Chinese Image in Lin Yutang’s Trans-creation Works

Clarice Lispector: A Retro Ethics of Errors

If there’s a riddle scholarship has not yet cracked, it is what Clarice Lispector—arguably Brazil’s most notorious writer—meant when she dedicated the entire Chinese nation to a single egg (“To the egg I dedicate the Chinese nation”). Lispector’s infatuation with China, by way of the Daodejing (道德經), the I-Ching (易經), and the work of philosophers such as Lin Yutang (林語堂) has also not yet been sufficiently explored. Following Lispector’s own evocative—rather than overly analytical—writing style, this article posits that her fascination with Chinese philosophy and mysticism is deeply rooted in a (Daoist) distrust toward mundane and forward-looking notions of success, opting instead for embracing failure as a counterintuitive, “proregressive” politics of resistance—or, as Lin Yuntang (he himself a very retro f igure at this point in time) would put it: “the Chinese are cynics and poets only when they have failed.” Drawing from the little-explored Chinese inf luences in her writings, this article sheds light on the Daoist roots of Clarice Lispector’s worldview and the role failure plays in her oeuvre.

Lin Yutang’s Transmission of Taoism in Moment in Peking

Lin Yutang’s Transmission of Taoism in Moment in Peking

Humor as part of a life philosophy: a look at Yeh Hai-Yen’s interpretation of the Zhuangzi

Humor is an indispensible part of life as it makes life bearable in the hardest of times. However, sometimes humor can be uplifting while other times it is debasing. This paper would like to take a look at the uplifting aspect of humor in The Zhuang Zi. It covers how humor can be considered part of a life philosophy outlines how the humor in the Zhuangzi is used as part of a holistic understanding of existence. In doing so, this paper looks at Yeh Hai-Yen’s notion of what makes Zhuangzi’s thinking on par with a life philosophy. Yeh is a modern-day Taiwanese scholar whose book The Zhuangzi and Life Philosophy goes over what differentiates the thinking in The Zhuangzi from traditional rational thought inherent in western philosophy. This paper goes over the three theories of humor from a western perspective, superiority, relief, and incongruity as well as looks at Lin Yutang’s analysis of what was considered humor in ancient China. This paper concludes that Zhuang Zi’s wit and insight comes from developing an ‘irrational’ approach to life, which is conducive to the incongruity theory of humor.

1950년대 한국의 린위탕(林語堂) 문학 번역⋅수용 연구 -수필/소품문을 중심으로-

1950년대에 린위탕의 수필문학은 그의 소설작품과 더불어 한국의 독서시장 에 단행본으로 다수 번역 출판되었다. 1954년에 이종렬은 사카모토 마사루(阪本勝) 역의 『生活の發見』(正/續)(1938)을 저본으로 삼아 린위탕의 수필 명작인 The Importance of Living을 『생활의 발견』이라는 제목으로 번역해 학우사에서 출판했다. 그리고 1957, 1958년에 김신행은 린위탕이 1930년대 중문과 영문으로 창작한 유머 소품문을 『임어당수필집』과 『무관심』 등 두 종의 앤솔로 지로 모아 동학사에서 번역 출판했다. 이종렬은 일본어 역자의 논조에 따라 세계적 헤게모니인 서양문명을 공격한 린위탕의 자세를 높이 평가했다. 그러나 『생활의 발견』에서 나타난 린위탕의 기존 동서문화관에 대한 전도(顚倒)는 당시 시대적 국면에 질의하는 주변적 목소리로만 기능할 수 있었을 뿐, 1950년대의 주류 담론인 ‘아시아 정체론(停滯論)’ 과 기본적으로 상충된다. 한편 김신행은 1930년대 발표된 린위탕의 유머 소품문에 대해 강렬한 연대 의식을 표출했다. 이러한 연대감 이면에는 화문문화권에서 비롯된 역사ㆍ문화적 동질감보다는 자유민주주의-근대화 과정에 처해 있던 근대민족국가의 정치ㆍ현실적 친연성이 분명 더 크게 작동했다. 중국대륙발(發)의 근대문학을 접촉할 수 있는 경로가 거의 차단되었던 상황에서 김신행은 린위탕 1930년대의 정치ㆍ문 화(학)적 문제의식을 1950년대 전후 한국의 현장으로 가져와 근대중국(대륙)과 탈냉전적인 국제적 연대를 모색했다. 이종렬, 김신행 이외에 주목할 만한 인물로 이 시기 장문의 린위탕론을 발표 한 윤영춘이 있다. 그는 식민지시기 이래 처음으로 ‘세계성’이라는 각도에 입각 해 린위탕의 생애 경력과 문학 사상을 조감했다. 그러나 이와 동시에 이 글은 린위탕과 그의 문학 사상을 소개ㆍ독해하는데 있어서 다수의 착오, 애매한 논점이 발견된다.

Review and Prospects of Taiwanese Philosophy Scholarship in South Korea

This study examined how Taiwanese philosophy has been received and researched in South Korea since its start to the present day. It takes the form of a survey, classifying the articles about Taiwanese philosophy which were published in South Korea over the years from 1994 to 2018 by the theme. It selected nine philosophers whose influence was profound in Taiwanese philosophy and observed the currents in the scholarship on each philosopher. The names of the selected philosophers are: Fang Thomé H., Hu Shi, Huang Chun-chieh, Lin Yutang, Liu Shuxian (Liu Shu-hsien), Mou Zongsan, Tang Junyi (Tang Chun-I), Xu Fuguan, Yu Yingshi (Yu Ying-shih). Sixty-one related papers were summarized and reviewed, and each of them was classified by the publication date, author, language, publisher and keywords. The survey revealed the limitations in Asian philosophy scholarship with regard to Taiwanese philosophy in South Korea, in terms of both quantity and quality. The survey also suggested a possible solution to these limitations and directions for scholars in the future. The study thus serves as a foundation that can boost discussion and the balanced development of South Korean philosophy studies, as well as of Asian philosophy in general.

Ideas and ideals in Jørn Utzon’s courtyard houses: dwelling, nature, and Chinese architecture

The international recognition of Jørn Utzon’s professional career is accompanied by a growing interest in the Danish architect’s courtyard housing projects. But previous scholarship had access to limited material from Utzon’s professional career, compared to what is now available in The Utzon Archives. Based on a detailed study of presently accessible archival material and original interviews with Utzon’s family and affiliates, this article shows that the Danish architect’s courtyard housing projects closely reflected both his architectural philosophy in general and his thoughts on modern dwellings in particular. These were in turn cultivated by the ideas and ideals of Lin Yutang, Alvar Aalto, and Osvald Sirén.

What Is “Chinese” Food? Historicizing the Concept of Culinary Regionalism

ABSTRACT When discussing Chinese food in the People’s Republic of China, the concept of culinary regionalism appears everywhere. Scholarly and popular accounts alike systematically list the same four (eight, ten, or twelve) “great” regional cuisines (sidacaixi, badacaixi, etc.), asserting that the designation of the original four great regional cuisines (Lu from Shandong Province, Yue from Guangdong Province, Chuan from Sichuan Province, and Huaiyang from Jiangsu Province) arose during the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). This article argues that the standardized concept of a four- (or more) part culinary system is likely a much later historical development, possibly even of the post-Mao reform era. It draws upon different historical definitions of “Chinese” food, using the food writings of Yuan Mei (1716–98), Xu Ke (1869–1928), Lin Yutang (1895–1976), and Qi Rushan (1875–1962). How can a better understanding of the historical dynamics of culinary regionalism affect our understanding of “Chinese” food?

Mapping Modern Beijing: Space, Emotion, Literary Topography

Mapping Modern Beijing: Space, Emotion, Literary Topography

A Study of Lin Yutang‟s Translator Behavior in the Translation of Six Chapters of Floating Life—Based on “Truth-Seeking-Utility-Attaining” Continuum Evaluation Model

A Study of Lin Yutang‟s Translator Behavior in the Translation of Six Chapters of Floating Life—Based on “Truth-Seeking-Utility-Attaining” Continuum Evaluation Model

Ethical Intercultural Communication between the Western World and China

Culture is the cumulative deposit of knowledge, traditions, beliefs acquired by a human community in the course of generations: ethics is one of the most important of such beliefs. As for the intercultural communication, the discipline which studies a cultural dialogue about various issues across different communities, since the eighties of the last century it has been the object of various theories, based on experimental data collections: among them the ‘Values Orientation Theory’ by F.R. Kluckhohn and F. Strodtbeck, the ‘Cultural Dimensions Theory’ by G. Hofstede and the ‘Theory of Basic Values’ by S.H. Schwartz. One of the goals of this paper is to give a closer look at those theories. In the same period of time an ‘ethical turn’ manifested itself in western literary studies, after a long period of post-modernist disengagement, by initiative of J. Gardner, M. C. Nussbaum and J. Habermas, among others: the same happened in China in the eve of the new millennium, owing to the studies on comparative literature by Nie Zhenzhao. Literary works constitute an important vehicle of ethical intercultural communication. A second goal of the present paper is that of suggesting a ‘constructivist approach’ in the cultural dialogue between the western world and China, combining the results of those theoretical models with a comparative analysis of literary works chosen ad hoc, as recently done by Xu Zhilin in her comparative study of female images in ‘A leaf in the storm’, by Lin Yutang, and ‘Gone with the wind’, by Margareth Mitchell, from the perspective of Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension Theory.

A Study of the Translation of Culture-Loaded Words in the Biography of Su Tungpo

Su Tungpo (Su Shi) is an encyclopedic literary figure in the Song Dynasty in ancient China. He has open-minded attitude towards life and influences several generations. The Gay Genius: the life and time of Su Tungpo tells the story of Su. By introducing this Chinese literary genius to American readers, Lin Yutang, a famous Chinese writer and translator with four nominations of Nobel Prize, depicts the biography of Su with humor and skillful languages. His translation of the book made Su’s works including his poetry, articles and philosophy of life spread overseas and gave a multidimensional portrayal of Su’s life story. Evidently, culture-loaded words abound in the book. The translation of such words frequently makes translators exhausted and stranded. Focusing on the study of the translation of the culture-loaded words, this thesis intends to take Lin’s The Gay Genius as an example to analyze the choices and the effects of different translation techniques due to different purposes under the guidance of domestication and foreignization.

Themes and Images in Liu Zhenyun’s Novel “Strange Bedfellows”

«Вестник Санкт-Петербургского университета. Востоковедение и африканистика» — рецензируемый междисциплинарный научный журнал, призванный стимулировать развитие оригинальных, независимых, достоверных, многосторонних исследований в области востоковедения и африканистики.

Study on Translated English Titles of <i>The Tale of Shangri-La</i>

A classical work of traditional Chinese literature, The Tale of Shangri-La, has received extensive attention among Chinese and Western translators, which is written by Tao Yuanming, an influential writer during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In this work, Tao Yuanming depicted an ideal society where people’s life is simple, quiet and harmonious, far away from hustle and bustle. A. R. Davis, Herbert A. Giles, James Robert Hightower, Rick Davis and David Steelman, Lin Yutang, Luo Jingguo, Roland C. Fang, Sun Dayu, Xie Baikui, Yang Xianyi, and other translators all show great interest in this work and are eager to push it into the English world, due to which, The Tale of Shangri-La, has entered the study of foreign researchers and writers. In order to discuss how to successfully translate the titles of Chinese classics into English, this paper selects ten translated English titles of The Tale of Shangri-La, and analyzes different strategies and methods used in them. It is concluded that translators should take cultural factors into consideration, and adopt the strategy of foreignization as much as possible in order to better carry forward Chinese traditional culture and promote cross-cultural communication in the process of translating the titles of Chinese classics into English.

Lin Yutang Came to South Korea, the Cross-border Circulation of “OrientalㆍChinese Wisdom” —A Study Focusing on Lin Yutang’s Speech in Korea in 1968—

Lin Yutang Came to South Korea, the Cross-border Circulation of “OrientalㆍChinese Wisdom” —A Study Focusing on Lin Yutang’s Speech in Korea in 1968—

Transpacific theatre: Lin Yutang’s self-translation as a creative act

ABSTRACTThis article examines Lin Yutang’s self-translation of his Chinese play Zi Jian Nan Zi (子见南子) as Confucius Saw Nancy for the 1930s American audience, in order to explore the creativity manifested in the process of translation that secures the performability of the translated play. Drawing upon Lin’s understanding of the notion of “self-translation”, namely, what he sees as a movement between identities of his Chinese self and English-speaking Other, this article analyses three strategies that he adopts to reinvent the original text for American audiences: the mirroring-effect, musicality and stage directions. It argues that the performability of this Chinese play demands both linguistic and dramaturgical intervention from the translator. Keenly aware that a translated play, like the original, is staged by actors for a live audience, Lin intends to create a new play that demonstrates his understanding of self-translation as what goes beyond a mere search for the equivalence of meanings between the source and target texts. This article concludes that for Lin what begins with self-translation eventually leads to an elaborate creation, and it is this creation generated by his concern with the audience over time that secures the performability of the play.

Text-close thick translations in two English versions of Laozi

ABSTRACTLaozi is the most translated Chinese text. It has profound philosophical thoughts and is written in a pithy style. It is essential to present its cultural, social, and historical contexts to target readers for a deep understanding of Laozi translations. Thick translation, which aims to produce thick contextualized texts, had been adopted by Lin Yutang and Roger Ames & David Hall in Laozi translations. This qualitative study compares text-close thick translations in these two English versions in an attempt to reveal how text-close thick translations support to achieve thick contextualization. This comparison identifies similarities and differences of subtitles, notes, commentaries, and supplementary material. The findings show that notes and commentaries are translators’ favorite maneuvers in supplying contextual information. However, due to the translators’ different backgrounds, attention is paid to different aspects. In conclusion, translators can employ different means of text-close thick translations to construct thick contexts, thereby enhancing target readers’ understanding.

Lin Yutang as My Role Model / transl. from Engl. by A. Skomorochov

Lin Yutang is for me a role model of how to live in our contemporary global world. He lived and was educated in Asia, America, and Europe, and he tried to integrate the best virtues of all these cultures. He never forgot his Chinese roots, but in his philosophy of life he was truly cosmopolitan. Lin put the special emphasis on education. Working himself as a teacher for many years, he criticized the formal education in our schools, which is based on memorization and repetition, as well as on constantly testing and grading students. Lin argued that the proper task of education is to stimulate thinking and the development of an independent personality. He was also opposed to over-specialized education and urged for the development of a well-rounded human being. A properly educated and cultivated human being shows good taste in all situations and conduct. The best way toward developing such a well-rounded and cultivated person is through the reading of classical literature. Lin himself was an admirer of classical literature and a person who wrote essays, short stories, and novels. In his view, literature evokes our sense of wonder at the universe and at human life. Lin’s philosophy of life and education can help us make our students — and ourselves — better human beings and better citizens of our globalized world.