Eileen Chang: The Performativity of Self-Translation
Published on 26. June 2025
Book
Hardback
322 pages
978-90-04-72717-5 (ISBN)
Description
Eileen Chang: The Performativity of Self-Translation by Jessica Tsui-yan Li focuses on the self-translation of Zhang Ailing ??? (Eileen Chang, 1920-1995), one of the most important Chinese writers of the twentieth century. Although self-translation is overlooked in most studies of her work, Chang's literary achievements are attributed in part to her lifelong self-translation of her lived experiences and family sagas, as well as her bilingualism.
This book enriches current studies of self-translation by proposing a new hypothesis of theorizing self-translation as a performative act, characterized by its in-betweenness and the aesthetic freedom that the self-translator enjoys, contextualized within larger debates about translation and the specific practice of self-translation in Chinese history in comparison to its Western counterpart.
This book enriches current studies of self-translation by proposing a new hypothesis of theorizing self-translation as a performative act, characterized by its in-betweenness and the aesthetic freedom that the self-translator enjoys, contextualized within larger debates about translation and the specific practice of self-translation in Chinese history in comparison to its Western counterpart.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Leiden
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 241 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
599 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-04-72717-5 (9789004727175)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jessica Tsui-yan Li, Ph.D. (2002), Chinese University of Hong Kong, Ph.D. (2007), University of Toronto, is Associate Professor of Chinese literature and culture at York University. She has published journal articles, book chapters, translations, special issues, and an edited volume on modern and contemporary Chinese literature and culture, Chinese Canadian literature, and Comparative Literature.
Content
Acknowledgements
Notes about Chinese Romanization and Translation
List of Illustrations
Introduction: The Practice of Self-Translation in Eileen Chang's Works
?1 Eileen Chang as a Self-Translator
?2 Translation History in China
?3 Theories of Self-Translation
?4 Summary of Each Chapter
Part 1: Translating the Self
1 Rewriting the Self in Memoirs
2 Reimagining the Self in Eileen Chang's Semi-Autobiographical Novels: Xiaotuanyuan ?????(Little Reunions), The Fall of the Pagoda, and The Book of Change
3 Self-Translation as a Performative Act: Duizhaoji - kan lao zhaoxiangbu ????--?????? (Mutual Reflections - Looking at Old Photo Albums)
Part 2: Paradoxical In-Betweenness
4 Interdependence: "Jinsuoji"????? ("The Golden Cangue"), The Rouge of the North, Yuannue ???? (Embittered Woman), and "The Golden Cangue"
5 Authorship: "Shame, Amah!" and "Guihuazheng - Ah Xiao beiqiu" ???--???? ("Steamed Osmanthus Flower: Ah Xiao's Unhappy Autumn")
6 Re-Evaluation: "Deng" ??? ("Waiting") and "Little Finger Up"
7 Recontextualization: "Stale Mates - A Short Story Set in the Time When Love Came to China" and "Wusi yishi - Luo Wentao sanmei tuanyuan" ????--??????? ("Regret after the May Fourth Movement - The Reunion of Luo Wentao and the Three Beauties")
8 Metacommentary on "Xiangjianhuan"????? ("A Joyful Rendezvous") and "She Said Smiling"
Part 3: Cultural Translation
9 Interpretation: "Demons and Fairies" and "Zhongguoren de zongjiao" ???????? ("The Religion of the Chinese")
10 Distanciation: "Still Alive" and "Yangren kan jingxi ji qita" ?????????? ("Westerners Watching Peking Opera and Other Issues")
11 Transformation: "Chinese Life and Fashions" and "Gengyiji" ????? ("A Chronicle of Changing Clothes")
Part 4: Political Ambivalence
12 Authenticity Reconsidered: The Rice-Sprout Song and Yangge????
13 Postmodern Intertextuality: Chidi zhi lian ??????(The Romance of the Redland) and Naked Earth
14 Transcultural Hospitality: "A Return to the Frontier" and "Chongfang biancheng" ??????
15 Transgressing Boundaries: "The Spyring or Ch'ing k'e! Ch'ing k'e!" and "Se, Jie" ?????("Lust, Caution")
Conclusion: The Performativity of Eileen Chang's Self-Translation
Bibliography
Index
Notes about Chinese Romanization and Translation
List of Illustrations
Introduction: The Practice of Self-Translation in Eileen Chang's Works
?1 Eileen Chang as a Self-Translator
?2 Translation History in China
?3 Theories of Self-Translation
?4 Summary of Each Chapter
Part 1: Translating the Self
1 Rewriting the Self in Memoirs
2 Reimagining the Self in Eileen Chang's Semi-Autobiographical Novels: Xiaotuanyuan ?????(Little Reunions), The Fall of the Pagoda, and The Book of Change
3 Self-Translation as a Performative Act: Duizhaoji - kan lao zhaoxiangbu ????--?????? (Mutual Reflections - Looking at Old Photo Albums)
Part 2: Paradoxical In-Betweenness
4 Interdependence: "Jinsuoji"????? ("The Golden Cangue"), The Rouge of the North, Yuannue ???? (Embittered Woman), and "The Golden Cangue"
5 Authorship: "Shame, Amah!" and "Guihuazheng - Ah Xiao beiqiu" ???--???? ("Steamed Osmanthus Flower: Ah Xiao's Unhappy Autumn")
6 Re-Evaluation: "Deng" ??? ("Waiting") and "Little Finger Up"
7 Recontextualization: "Stale Mates - A Short Story Set in the Time When Love Came to China" and "Wusi yishi - Luo Wentao sanmei tuanyuan" ????--??????? ("Regret after the May Fourth Movement - The Reunion of Luo Wentao and the Three Beauties")
8 Metacommentary on "Xiangjianhuan"????? ("A Joyful Rendezvous") and "She Said Smiling"
Part 3: Cultural Translation
9 Interpretation: "Demons and Fairies" and "Zhongguoren de zongjiao" ???????? ("The Religion of the Chinese")
10 Distanciation: "Still Alive" and "Yangren kan jingxi ji qita" ?????????? ("Westerners Watching Peking Opera and Other Issues")
11 Transformation: "Chinese Life and Fashions" and "Gengyiji" ????? ("A Chronicle of Changing Clothes")
Part 4: Political Ambivalence
12 Authenticity Reconsidered: The Rice-Sprout Song and Yangge????
13 Postmodern Intertextuality: Chidi zhi lian ??????(The Romance of the Redland) and Naked Earth
14 Transcultural Hospitality: "A Return to the Frontier" and "Chongfang biancheng" ??????
15 Transgressing Boundaries: "The Spyring or Ch'ing k'e! Ch'ing k'e!" and "Se, Jie" ?????("Lust, Caution")
Conclusion: The Performativity of Eileen Chang's Self-Translation
Bibliography
Index