Reading Tolkien in Chinese
Religion, Fantasy and Translation
1st Edition
Published on 21. March 2024
200 pages
978-1-350-37466-9 (ISBN)
Description
Approaching translations of Tolkien's works as stories in their own right, this book reads multiple Chinese translations of Tolkien's writing to uncover the new and unique perspectives that enrich the meaning of the original texts.
Exploring translations of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin and The Unfinished Tales, Eric Reinders reveals the mechanics of meaning by literally back-translating the Chinese into English to dig into the conceptual common grounds shared by religion, fantasy and translation, namely the suspension of disbelief, and questions of truth - literal, allegorical and existential. With coverage of themes such as gods and heathens, elves and 'Men', race, mortality and immortality, fate and doom, and language, Reinder's journey to Chinese Middle-earth and back again drastically alters views on Tolkien's work where even basic genre classification surrounding fantasy literature look different through the lens of Chinese literary expectations.
Invoking scholarship in Tolkien studies, fantasy theory and religious and translations studies, this is an ambitious exercises in comparative imagination across cultures that suspends the prejudiced hierarchy of originals over translations.
Exploring translations of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin and The Unfinished Tales, Eric Reinders reveals the mechanics of meaning by literally back-translating the Chinese into English to dig into the conceptual common grounds shared by religion, fantasy and translation, namely the suspension of disbelief, and questions of truth - literal, allegorical and existential. With coverage of themes such as gods and heathens, elves and 'Men', race, mortality and immortality, fate and doom, and language, Reinder's journey to Chinese Middle-earth and back again drastically alters views on Tolkien's work where even basic genre classification surrounding fantasy literature look different through the lens of Chinese literary expectations.
Invoking scholarship in Tolkien studies, fantasy theory and religious and translations studies, this is an ambitious exercises in comparative imagination across cultures that suspends the prejudiced hierarchy of originals over translations.
More details
Series
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
ISBN-13
978-1-350-37466-9 (9781350374669)
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
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
10/2025
Bloomsbury Academic
€44.40
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Eric Reinders is Associate Professor in the Department of Religion, at Emory University, USA, where he teaching courses on Chinese religion, relation and fantasy, and Tolkien. He has published on many aspects of the interactions of China and the West. He is the author of The Moral Narratives of Hayao Miyazaki (2016) and his articles have appeared in The Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts.
Content
Acknowledgments
Notes on Citation
Abbreviations
Part 1: Religion, Fantasy, and Translation
1. Religion and Fantasy-What's The Difference?
2. Translation, An Elven Craft
3. Tolkien in Chinese: Books and Titles
4. Genre Across Cultures, and in Middle-Earth
Part 2: Reading Tolkien in Chinese
5. Gods and Heathens
6. Elves and "Men"
7. Race
8. Hell and Other Theories
9. White Shores and Beyond
10. Fate and Doom
11. Language
12. Magical Language
13. And Back Again
Bibliography
Index
Notes on Citation
Abbreviations
Part 1: Religion, Fantasy, and Translation
1. Religion and Fantasy-What's The Difference?
2. Translation, An Elven Craft
3. Tolkien in Chinese: Books and Titles
4. Genre Across Cultures, and in Middle-Earth
Part 2: Reading Tolkien in Chinese
5. Gods and Heathens
6. Elves and "Men"
7. Race
8. Hell and Other Theories
9. White Shores and Beyond
10. Fate and Doom
11. Language
12. Magical Language
13. And Back Again
Bibliography
Index
