Orphan Of Zhao(Zhaoshi Gu'er)(1731-2018)

The Orphan of Zhao,the representative tragedy of the Yuan opera(hereinafter referred to as The Orphan)was the first Chinese drama to have gone globally(translated by Joseph-Henry Marie de Prémare(1666-1736)in 1731).It has been translated,adapted,performed,and commented on overseas for a non-stop period of287 years.With its far-reaching influence and time-honored history of dissemination,the play has created for the world shared cultural and artistic resources.As such,it would be unimaginable for anyone to embark on the translation studies of Chinese classical drama without referring to The Orphan.This dissertation is a diachronic study of translation and dissemination of The Orphan.Taking“translation”and“rewriting”as two strands,the author sets off from Pym's overarching ideas and methodology of translation history and focuses on three aspects:“historical production of translation/adaptation(hereinafter referred to as T/A)”,“historical form of T/A”,and“historical movement of T/A”.With a view to constructing a systematic history of translation and dissemination for the play(1731-2018),this paper proposes three research questions:(1)How does the Orphan achieve its“canonization”overseas through translation/adaptation?(2)What is the pattern governing its evolutional and developmental journey of translation/adaptation?(3)For the Chinese classical plays at large,what experience or reference model can be drawn from the Orphan?This study consists of four parts.The first part includes Chapter 1 Introduction,and Chapter 2 Literature Review.The former is an introductory section presenting the rationale,the background and the theoretical framework while the latter sorts out and analyzes the available domestic and international literature on the translation/adaptation of the Orphan,on the basis of which the author points out the problems hovering over the current research and advances corresponding theoretical countermeasures thereof;the second part pivots around“history of translation”which proceeds from Chapters 3 to Chapter 6.In consideration of the play's translational germination and its literary growth,the author attempts to conduct the study with four sub-sections:the translation by Prémare(1735),the retranslation from French to English in the 18^thcentury,the direct translation from Chinese in the 19^thand 20^thcenturies,and the contemporary Sinological translation(2000-).Among them,the18^th-century retranslation section contains two cases:Watts's edition(1736)and the Cave's edition(1738),both derived from Description of the Chinese Empire;the 19^th-20^thcentury section is comprised of the French translation by Julien(1834;1869)and the English translation by Liu Jung-en(1972);the third part,Chapter 7 is devoted to the adaptation of The Orphan,in which the author analyzes the adaptation of The Orphan by the early dramatist William Hachette(1701-1760)and the contemporary playwright and poet James Fenton(1949-).The spread of The Orphan to Europe was initiated in a special historical context of the early literary exchanges between East and West.Against the backdrop of Christian preaching and the mainstream of translating“Four Books and Five Classics”,the Orphan stood out as the translational“starting point”of Chinese Belles-lettres for Prémare's two-fold identity of Jesuit and Sinological scholar,the French literary system all ready to absorp the Chinese opera,and the tragic aesthetic traits and moral power of the Orphan per se;Julien's translation of The Orphan was effected out of the competition between English and French sinology of Chinese drama studies.Basing himself on the mentorship genealogy,Julien carried forward the extraordinary French sinological tradition of Chinese drama studies.In spite of the fact that his was eclipsed in impact compared with Prémare's which was a phenomenal success under18^th“Chinoisirie”,he largely compensated for the latter's“cutting off lyrics yet retaining its dialogues”;as the first English translator of The Orphan from Chinese,Liu Jung-en's approach to the lyrics was in line with the pragmatic need to“canonize”Chinese opera to the extent that it largely contributed to the play's dissemination in the English-speaking world;Stephen H.West(1946-)and Wilt L.Idema(1944-)'s collaborative translation entails The Orphan's full entry into the vision of contemporary Western Sinology.By and large,it is evident that their cognition and their way of studying Chinese classical dramas have a considerable influence on their practice of translation,and their work reflects the translation values of Western Sinology that attaches importance to the text versions of the play,the cultural context and the restoration of the opera culture.Hachette's The Chinese Orphan(1747)represents a“faithful”adaptation that touches upon Chinese knowledge.His inter-cultural theatrical techniques are partially realized by his rewriting of the play's narrative characteristics.Fenton's The Orphan of Zhao(2012)origintes from Western theatrical field with Shakespeare's plays occupying its center.His reconstruction of the theme of“dedication”,emphasis on female voices,introduction of elements from the Book of Songs,and its treatment of the theme of“vengeance”all reflect the incommensurable distinctions between Chinese and Western theater ethics and poetics.Through the examination and analysis of the above 7 cases of translation and 2cases of adaptation,the paper demonstrates core elements of the The Orphan's T/A subjectivity,its T/A route,its T/A strategies and its T/A effects over different periods,and interprets the historical process of play's recognition,acceptance,circulation and transmission in cross-cultural writing as well as its core values in the history of Sino-Western theatrical exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations.To conclude,the author further suggests that for the future T/A of Chinese classical operas,we should(1)explore the translation method of Sino-foreign cooperation;(2)create“two systems”for play translation;(3)stay committed to the principle of“adhering to the original play's essence while keeping in mind the innovation”in the inter-cultural theatrical adaptation;(4)eschew the tendency of either“Oriental imitation”or“one-way adaptation”in our pursuit of their modernization.