CCK Foundation project

source: http://www.cckf.org/en/news/2020060103

Rick Lintao Qi

Monash University (Australia)

“Constructing a Socio-cultural History of Japanese Translations of the Classical Chinese Novel Jin Ping Mei”

Grant amount：US$16,000

Grant period：1 year

Jin Ping Mei is one of the best known and most translated classical Chinese novels. It has so far been translated into more than 20 languages, and as my previous research shows, there are more than 10 different versions in English alone, and some versions have been reprinted multiple times. However, in terms of academic research, Jin Ping Mei studies have long focused exclusively on the various aspects of the Chinese version of the novel, leaving translations of Jin Ping Mei a largely untouched area. I have published a monograph on the English translations of Jin Ping Mei at Routledgh in 2018, with an ongoing interest in the translation of Jin Ping Mei into other languages such as Japanese. As close neighbours in east Asia, China and Japan have a long history of literary and cultural exchange, with novels such as Jin Ping Mei introduced into Japan shortly after its appearance in China. The first Japanese translation of Jin Ping Mei was produced during the Edo Period, followed by about a dozen various reincarnations in the form of complete translations, abridged translations, theatrical and film adaptations and manga. This project, informed by my previous research in terms of methodology, proposes to conduct a comprehensive and meticulous survey of the translational history of Jin Ping Mei in Japanese from the Edo Period to the present. To this end, extensive fieldworks will be undertaken to uncover the publishers’ archives, private correspondence, book reviews and any other related materials so as to tease out the trajectory of the novel’s migration into Japanese at different historical moments. Recognising the academic value of paratexts to translation studies, this project also attempts to interview the translators, wherever possible, to unravel the rich fields of translation, production, circulation and reception of Jin Ping Mei around the world. By constructing such a translational history through collaboration with sinologists and researchers involved, this research is going to bring the interaction between literary translation and the socio-cultural contexts at different historical moments under scrutiny, and analyse the relationship between the various agents in the course of translation, publication and circulation of Jin Ping Mei. Such analyses will not only provide interesting case studies to translation studies, they will also shed lights on how to best promote Taiwanese literature to the outside world.

Key words: Jin Ping Mei; Japanese translation; socio-cultural contexts; agents; paratexts; archives