The Cultural Memory of Davis’s Retranslation of San Yu Lou

Jiangsu University of Science and Technology,Zhenjiang,China Email:jtzeng@just.edu.cn

Liu Hui

Jiangsu University of Science and Technology,Zhenjiang,China Email:Liuhuiylucia@163.com

[Abstract]The study on the retranslation of“San Yu Lou”in recent years mainly focuses on the understanding of the original text and the changes in the vocabulary and syntax of the translation text itself,while ignoring the impact caused by cultural memory on the retranslation of San Yu Lou.Starting from the theory of cultural memory,this paper attempts to discuss the process of Davis’s retranslation of San Yu Lou from four aspects:individual memory,collective memory,historical memory and present memory.

[Keywords]Cultural Memory theory;retranslation;Li Yu;Sinology

Introduction

San Yu Louis selected from Twelve Towers written by Li Yu with a reputation of“Oriental Shakespeare”(1610-1680).This book was created in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty,during the budding period of capitalism,and the citizen culture was heating up and fermenting.The fiction at that time had profound moral and ethical implications,andSan Yu Loufully reflected the social reality of this period.John Francis Davis was the first person to translateSan Yu Louinto English.Later,he retranslated the fiction based on the first one.Existing studies have talked about the influence of the translator’s specific socio-historical and cultural background on the(re)translation,but they have not yet conducted in-depth research.For example,as the“China fever”cooled in the United Kingdom,from the late period of the 18th century to the end of the 19th century,a large number of negative comments on China appeared.This social context led to the use of translation strategies such as deletion and addition of footnotes.In addition,there is still a lack of research on the influence of his personal identity as a sinologist and diplomat on his(re)translation.Davis’s retranslation ofSan Yu Louwas inseparable from his individual experience.As a member of the social collective,he was influenced by the culture and society of the two countries.Therefore,this paper intends to use the cultural memory theory proposed by Jan Assmann and Aleida Assmann,to explore how the individual memory and collective memory under the framework of social memory,text memory in the context of historical and present translation directly influence the(re)translation ofSan Yu Lou.

Cultural Memory Theory and Translation Activities

German scholars Assmann and his wife put forward the cultural memory theory in the 1990s.It is a memory shared by all members of the social group by means of a series of objective external objects such as text,pictures,memorials and other media(Jan Assmann,2015,p.46).Cultural memory serves as a resource and guide for translators.First of all,from a non-textual perspective,the impact of cultural memory on translators is mainly reflected in two levels:collective memory and individual memory.Memory is always connected to the individual,and the individual is the owner of the memory.The individual memory of the translator includes his/her language ability and literary experience or cultural memory.Individual memories are affected by the collective,and even the most personal memories will only arise from the interactions within the collective.French scholar Maurice Halbwachs first proposed the concept of collective memory.Collective memory is“the process and result of sharing the past by members of a specific social group.”(Halbwachs,2002a,p.335).Collective memory is not passively filled with individual memories.On the contrary,“Collective frames are just some tools.Collective memories can be used to reconstruct images of the past.”And“in every era,this image is in line with the dominant thoughts of society.”(Halbwachs,2002b,p.31)Therefore,we can regard individual memory and collective memory as branches of social memory.The difference between collective memory and social memory is that collective memory refers to a part of social memory that is often shared by members of a certain group.Davis was the first person to translate Li Yu’s works into the English world.As a sinologist and diplomat,he had his own academic demands and the responsibilities of the times that the society gave him.Therefore,both Li Yu and Davis,as individuals in the social collective,their works or translations are all affected by the collective and individual memory.

The Assmanns believed that collective memory should not only focus on the past that the entire collective had experienced together.They endowed collective memory with a cultural character and believed that we should use cultural media to remember.Culture is the carrier of memory,so they believed that memory existed in various cultural carriers such as texts,museums,festivals,etc.Translation is a kind of cross-cultural communication,which must be based on social culture.The cultural memory of translation refers to the translation context in which the translator is located.All factors need to be reflected in the text.We can call the cultural memory of translation as text memory.Text memory can be divided into“historical memory”and“present memory”in the dimension of time(Yan,2018,pp.80-86).The former refers the cognitive system that the translators inherit and construct on the basis of existing relevant texts,the latter is a cognitive system constructed by the translator with the help of historical tradition and combined with the needs of the times.

In summary,translation is a cognitive activity performed by the translator under the framework of a specific social memory,dominated by individual memory,and under the norms of collective memory,the translator perform the(re)translation based on historical and present text memory.

The Social Memory Affecting Davis’s Retranslation of San Yu Lou

Ideology,cultural norms,and political orientation shape social memory(memory outside of text).The influence of the memory outside of the text on the retranslation can be divided into two aspects:collective memory and individual memory.Individual memory includes the language ability and literary experience of the translator.As a Sinologist,Davis’s Sinology literacy during the retranslation period was definitely higher than that of the first translation period,and his status as a diplomat was destined to focus on literary elements related to Chinese politics and economy.The translator used the collective shared cultural memory to retranslate the first translation to conform to the trend of the target language culture:the image of a backward China was gradually being established.

The Individual Memory Affecting Davis’s Retranslation of San Yu Lou

Human beings are living organisms,and social human beings.Humans produce memories in the process of socialization.The collective provides a certain social foundation for individuals to remember and recall.Davis was proficient in Chinese and had a keen interest in Chinese language and culture.Davis was a social individual,and his individual social experience constituted his individual memory.He served as the Governor of Hong Kong in 1844 during the British colonial period of Hong Kong(1842-1997).The identity of the Governor destined Davis to focus on China's politics and economy.AndSan Yu Louis a true portrayal of society in the budding period of capitalism.San Yu Louis a social custom drama centered on buying a house.Through a large number of character psychological descriptions and character dialogues,it shows the psychological characteristics of the nouveau riche landlord under the background of highly developed commodity economy.

With the continuous expansion of Sino-British trade in the early 19th century,the British and American missionaries and diplomats who accompanied the trade were all seeking national interests to directly translate Chinese Sinology.Davis choseSan Yu Louas the original text and retranslated it after 7 years,which had a lot to do with the themes of the text“land”and“house”.These two themes are the everlasting themes of China with farming civilization as the mainstay,and they are still important spiritual support for the Chinese people nowadays.Davis was keenly aware of this essential difference between Chinese and Western cultures,and then through the translation ofSan Yu Louhe helped British people understand more about China’s national conditions,laid a solid foundation for expanding Sino-British trade.In this respect,Davis’individual memory has expanded the cognitive aspect of collective memory.Davis’s concern about China’s politics and economy was reflected in the footnotes.Compared with the first version(28 footnotes),his retranslation(9 footnotes)omitted more than half of the footnotes.But some footnotes had not been deleted but added,such as:

“继武唤他上船”

“Ke-woo,told her to come into the boat.*”

footnote:Almost all journeys are performed in China by water.(Davis,1815a,p.34)

“Ke-woo told her to come into the boat.*”

footnote:Almost all journeys are performed in China by water.The British Embassy of 1816,of which the translator was a member,travelled a distance of about 1200 miles,along canals and navigable river.”(Davis,1822b,p.194)

“Boat”was originally not necessary to explain,it was just a means of transportation,but Davis used 33 words to explain it in the retranslation,because means of transportation is a sign of the level of socio-economic development and a manifestation of family living standards.His translation behavior supported the fact that Davis was concerned about China’s politics and economy as a diplomat.In the comparison between the first translation and the retranslation,we can not only see the clues of the influence of the status of a diplomat on the translation,but also find that Davis,a sinologist,has gained a better understanding of Chinese language and culture after a lapse of 7 years.

“情愿把货物赊他”

“wishing to take*and lend to him on credit.”(Davis,1815b,p.13)

footnote:such is the phrase in the original,Pa ho wo she ta,“to take things and lend to him.”

“the willingness of the users and the workman to give him credit.”(Davis,1822b,p.163)

In the first translation,Davis adopted a word-for-word translation of the common Chinese sentence pattern“Ba”,and explained in the footnotes that this was the expression of the original text.Obviously,such literal translation does not conform to the English expression habits.In the retranslated one,Davis omitted the translation of the word“ba”,which on the one hand helped British readers understand,on the other hand,it also reflected the improvement of translator’s Chinese level.

The Collective Memory Affecting Davis’s Retranslation of San Yu Lou

In The Social Framework of Memory,Halbwachs(2001)defined collective memory as“the process and result of sharing the past by members of a specific social group”.The 19th century was an important turning point in Chinese history.This period witnessed China’s transformation from strong to weak,Britain gradually established its global colonial hegemony.British Sinologists actively translated Chinese cultural classics and didn’t impact British culture,but strengthened its power.Sinologists such as Su Mousi generally believed that Chinese popular literature best reflected the its values and the national characteristics.Only by reading popular literature could we expand the Sino-British trade.The cultural consensus reached among Sinologists was the collective memory of the time when Davis translated Chinese literature.Li Yu was very good at combining reality with his plays,and revealed Chinese reality through twists and turns in the play.Li Yu’s identity and works fit the British society’s needs for understanding China at that time:

“要连人带产投靠进来为仆的。”

“with his family and effects,to come under his protection,and become his slaves.”(Davis,1815c,p.35)

“with his family and effects,to come under his protection and become his slaves.*”

footnote:It is to be observed,that the slavery,which is recognized and tolerated by the laws of China,is a mild species of servitude,and perhaps not very degrading in a country,in which no condition of life appears to admit of any considerable degree of personal liberty and independences.(Davis,1822c,p.194)

Davis did not add a footnote to the word“slaves”in the first translation,indicating that the translator did not pay too much attention to“slaves”at the first translation,and did not think that the word had an annotation value.Seven years later,the status of China and Britain had changed a lot.A weak,backward and conservative image of China had become popular in British society.Davis added a footnote to cater to the collective impression of China in the British society:

“玉川思想做封君,只得要奉承儿子,不知不觉就变起常性来。”

“Yo-chuan,desiring much to become a Fung-kuen,* wished only to flatter his son,and without being aware,deviated from his constant opinion.”

footnote:The Fathers of Persons possessing eminent rank are thus called.(Davis,1815d,p.9)

“As the father had an object*in humouring his son,he deviated on this occasion from his usual maxims.”

footnote:when a man in China attains to high literary rank,certain honours are conferred on his father.A Hong merchant at Conton,whose son was a member of the Imperial College,had the priviledge of erecting certain poles of masts in his grounds,indicate of the favour of the emperor.(Davis,1822d,p.158)

The term“Fung-kuen”in the Qing Dynasty referred to the honor granted by the court to the father of officials.Now it means that parents enjoy the welfare of their children.It is the epitome of the feudal patriarchal society that China has maintained for thousands of years.In Western countries,the relationship between parents and children is relatively equal,rather than the relationship between domination and obedience.Davis spent a lot to explain the reason for the influence of collective memory.From the late 18th century,Britain began to have negative comments on China,the“China fever”had cooled,and Western criticism of China began to appear culturally biased.The image of the“ideal country”spread by the early Catholic missionaries gradually collapsed,and was replaced by the image of a feudal power with“abundant malpractices”.(Guo et al.,2017,p.98)

The Text Memory Affecting Davis’s Retranslation of San Yu Lou

The subject of translational cultural memory is text,so we can call translational cultural memory as text memory.In this research,we will subdivide text memory into historical memory and present memory in the dimension of time.That is,from the perspectives of historical texts and present texts,it explains the influence of text memory on Davis’retranslation ofSan Yu Lou.Our observation of the present text always points to the future.Through the study of the present text and the integration of retranslation,it has reference significance for later Sinologists’translation.

The Historical Memory Affecting Davis’s Retranslation of San Yu Lou

Historical memory refers to the cognitive system that translators inherit and construct on the basis of existing relevant texts.Before Davis,only two Chinese novels were available in English-speaking translations.He discovered the gaps left by Chinese novels in the English-speaking world,so he translatedSan Yu Louand promoted the development of“Chinese literature Western spread”tide.The first translation ofSan Yu Louin 1815 also constitutes Davis’s historical memory.In the first one,He retained a large amount of culturally heterogeneous elements,and showed the unfamiliar Chinese culture to the British readers intact.Later,he found that this method could not help the British readers understand,nor could he showed his ability as a Sinologist to use Chinese culture and Chinese characters freely,so in the retranslation,he deleted the poems,westernized the original text,and changed from the position of being“dominated”by the original text to the“dominating”original text,which generally reflected the transition from foreignization to domestication:

“自小夤缘入学,是个白丁秀才”

“From his earliest years he commenced a scholar,seeking preferment by all sorts of means; and was a Titular Saw-tsae.*”

footnote:The lowest literary title.The next above it,is Kiu-jin; and the next above that,Tsin-sze.The Three first of the Tsin-sze,at each examination,which is always conducted by the Emperor himself,are called Chang-yue,Tan-hwa,and Pang-yen.(Davis,1815e,p.8)

“From his earliest years he devoted himself to letter,seeking preferment by every means in his power,and soon became a scholar of the third degree.”(Davis,1822e,p.157)

The word“Xiu Cai”was directly transliterated into Saw-tsae in the first translation published,and a large number of footnotes were added to introduce the cultural meaning behind it to British readers.This large footnote was also obscure to read.So Davis paraphrased it as“a scholar of the third degree”in the retranslated version,which helped the fluency of reading.From this,we can see that the first translation as historical memory is the inducement to change the retranslated version.

The Present Memory Affecting Davis’s Retranslation of San Yu Lou

As discussed above,the(re)translation was not only influenced by historical memory,but also directly related to the existing translations of similar themes in present memory.These translations reflected the needs of cultural memory in the context of translation.Collie David,a British missionary at the beginning of the 19th century,when he commented on“其为人也孝弟,而好犯上者,鲜矣”,He believed that“Xiao”should be explained from the perspective of Christianity.There are similar examples inSan Yu Lou:

“你望报之心愈急,他偏不与你销缴,竟像没有报应一般。等你望得心灰意冷,丢在肚皮外面,他倒忽然报应起来。”

“If you look for a recompense with an anxious heart,Heaven will not conclude the matter with you; and it will appear as if there were no recompense.Heaven will wait till you have lost all expectation,when you have utterly given up the idea,will then suddenly send it.”(Davis,1815f,p.33)

“Should you look for the reward of your good deeds with an anxious heart.Heaven may not immediately send it,and it may seem as if no reward awaited you.But when you have lost all expectation,and given up the hope,the recompense will suddenly arrive.”(Davis,1822f,p.193)

In the original text,“he”meant heavenly law,the so-called heavenly law refers to the rules and principles of all things.Davis translated it as“Heaven”in both translations.This coincided with Collie David,who directly used Christian ideas to explain Confucian culture.If Davis could get the enlightenment from his present memory from the translations of Chinese cultural classics,then it was natural that the development of British culture had influenced him.Romanticism arose in England in the early 19th century,romanticism advertised freedom and individualism.This has a certain impact on Davis’choice of Li Yu’s work.In 1816,The Asiatic Journal published Davis’s first translation.The editor of the magazine also believed that:“San Yu Louis a romantic novel with unique characteristics and a genre painting of the Chinese nation.”From this we can see that the editor’s perspective was consistent with Davis’s.San Yu Lounot only conformed to the reading taste of British readers at that time,but also helped the Western world know more about China.

Conclusion

In general,from the perspective of cultural memory,we have studied the process of Davis’(re)translation ofSan Yu Lou.We found that Davis’(re)translation was directly related to his dual identities as a“sinologist”and a“diplomat”,The context of the social situation constructed Davis’s cognition of his identity and affected the translator’s focus on Chinese cultural classics; the social political situation,Sino-British relations as collective memories provide Davis with a social framework,which reflected the need to understand the Chinese image from a critical perspective;the historical memory formed by the works translated and introduced in the past stimulated Davis’s translation motivation to a certain extent,and the present cultural trends also put forward specific translation needs for him,and brought him into the rich world of Li Yu’s works.