Abstract
This article provides a historical and reflective account of the remarkable perseverance and tenacity of Chinese translators during the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution in Chinese history. It first dispels the misunderstandings and misconceptions associated with the myth that the country was beset by a cultural wilderness, which shaped the impression that no translation activities were widely known. But this is far from a complete picture. Contrary to popular belief, the Chinese leader of the time, Mao Zedong, attached great importance to translation. At the beginning of the mass movement, there were hardly any translations into Chinese, but translation into English and some other languages was not stopped even in the most turbulent period. In this paradoxical scenario, some limited translations into Chinese were allowed, closely supervised by the authorities, and their circulation was strictly internal. Translators were anonymized and deprived of the right to decide for themselves what or with whom they wanted to translate since these were invariably translations in subterranean collaboration. This peculiar form of collective translation will be examined in more detail here. It should be noted, however, that the Chinese translators were not merely subservient. Some respected translators, whom the authorities did not trust with this form of collective translation, did not bow to political pressure and stole the Promethean fire by resorting to “private” (underground) translations, without the intention or hope that the translated texts would see the light of day.
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Notes
The bureau was established in 1942 exclusively responsible for translating works by Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin. The Cultural Revolution delayed the publication of The Complete Works of Marx and Engels. By 1966, 21 volumes had been published but the translation project was foreshadowed by the pressing demand of the circumstances and did not resume until 1969. The four volumes of Selected works of Marx and Engels, though already completed by the start of the Cultural Revolution, were not released to the public.
On top of its own translators, the House seconded some high-level translators from outside, eventually expanding to 200 people. These included some most venerable translators such as Ye Junjian, Qian Zhongshu and Cheng Zhenqiu.
The magazine was launched in 1951 to introduce to the world what new China had achieved in the course of socialist construction. Curiously enough, the editorial policy of the magazine was allowed a certain degree of freedom. See (Ma, 2007, p. 184).
It is a novel allegedly based the life story of an ordinary soldier who sacrificed his life to save a train from derailing. In a way, it seemed to signal the start of the Cultural Revolution: the soldier fervently studied Mao’s works.
The author of the novel, Jin Jingmai, was imprisoned in 1968.
David Hawkes was only interested in the first 80 chapters written by the original author and the last 40 chapters written by a different author was translated by his son-in-law, John Minford.
Lin Biao had been Mao’s closest ally and was appointed by the latter as his successor before he “betrayed” the supreme leader and died in a plane crash while trying to flee. He was officially accused of planning a coup against Mao.
In general, the quality of these translations is “first-class.” See (Zhou et al., 2009, p. 232).
This is in fact a misnomer. “Journal” here refers to a series of publications including full-length books.
http://book.ifeng.com/yeneizixun/special/fanyijia/detail_2012_08/18/16910586_0.shtml accessed 5
August 2016.
http://www.oklink.net/01/0406/shang/33.html accessed 3 February 2019.
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Sun, Y. Literary translation during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Neohelicon 50, 669–686 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11059-023-00715-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11059-023-00715-8