Cancioneiro Chinez
-
Marta Pacheco Pinto
Abstract
Referred to as a collection of (indirect or mediated) translations or lyrical adaptations, António Feijó’s Cancioneiro chinez (1890), literally the Book of Chinese Songs, is the first anthology of classical Chinese poetry translated into Portuguese. It was translated from Judith Gautier’s Le Livre de jade, which, since its publication in 1867, has been reprinted five times (1902, 1908, 1928, 1933, and 2004) and extensively translated into several European languages. Widely popular among the late nineteenth-century French audience, Le Livre de jade, which recent research has shown to collect mostly mistranslations and pseudotranslations, combines a selection of what Judith Gautier considered to mirror China’s best poetry with her own notion of an oriental aesthetics. Briefly turning to the Orient in search of new poetic possibilities, António Feijó (1859–1917) had no knowledge of the Chinese language and was never in China, which did not prevent his Cancioneiro chinez from achieving national success. This collection allowed the poet to keep pace with French literary modernity and introduced Portuguese audience to new poetic material, thus allowing him enough leeway for poetic experimentation. Based on José Lambert’s and Van Gorp’s model for translation description, our study sets out from a two-tiered textual approach: one focused on metatextual information (front cover, collection title, and preface) and the other on a macro-level comparative analysis (special focus on text division and formal structure). Both analyses will permit us to understand not only the impact of Cancioneiro chinez on a socio-cultural context highly influenced by French culture and language, but also the poet’s approach to a mediated translation of an exotic language.
Abstract
Referred to as a collection of (indirect or mediated) translations or lyrical adaptations, António Feijó’s Cancioneiro chinez (1890), literally the Book of Chinese Songs, is the first anthology of classical Chinese poetry translated into Portuguese. It was translated from Judith Gautier’s Le Livre de jade, which, since its publication in 1867, has been reprinted five times (1902, 1908, 1928, 1933, and 2004) and extensively translated into several European languages. Widely popular among the late nineteenth-century French audience, Le Livre de jade, which recent research has shown to collect mostly mistranslations and pseudotranslations, combines a selection of what Judith Gautier considered to mirror China’s best poetry with her own notion of an oriental aesthetics. Briefly turning to the Orient in search of new poetic possibilities, António Feijó (1859–1917) had no knowledge of the Chinese language and was never in China, which did not prevent his Cancioneiro chinez from achieving national success. This collection allowed the poet to keep pace with French literary modernity and introduced Portuguese audience to new poetic material, thus allowing him enough leeway for poetic experimentation. Based on José Lambert’s and Van Gorp’s model for translation description, our study sets out from a two-tiered textual approach: one focused on metatextual information (front cover, collection title, and preface) and the other on a macro-level comparative analysis (special focus on text division and formal structure). Both analyses will permit us to understand not only the impact of Cancioneiro chinez on a socio-cultural context highly influenced by French culture and language, but also the poet’s approach to a mediated translation of an exotic language.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction: Translation anthologies and collections 1
-
I. Discursive practices and scholarly agency
- Forms and functions of anthologies of translations into French in the nineteenth century 17
- The short story in English meets the Portuguese reader 35
- Cancioneiro Chinez 57
- Academic navel gazing? Playing the game up front? 75
- Las antologías sobre la traducción en la Península Ibérica 89
-
II. National and international canonization processes
- Poetry anthologies as Weltliteratur projects 107
- Publishing translated literature in late 19th century Portugal 123
- Short stories from foreign literatures in Portugália’s series Antologias Universais 137
- Patterns in the external history of Portuguese collections with translations of Polish literature (1855–2009) 153
- Extra-European literatures in anthology during the Estado Novo (1933–1974) 171
-
III. Selection and censorship
- Children’s literature in translation 189
- Translating German poetry into French under the Occupation 205
- The reception of science fiction and horror story anthologies in the last years of Francoist Spain 217
- Censored discourse in anthologies and collections of the Far West 229
- Philosophical collections, translation and censorship 247
- Translation anthologies and British literature in Portugal and Hungary between 1949 and 1974 259
- Notes on contributors and editors 275
- Name index 281
- Subject index 285
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction: Translation anthologies and collections 1
-
I. Discursive practices and scholarly agency
- Forms and functions of anthologies of translations into French in the nineteenth century 17
- The short story in English meets the Portuguese reader 35
- Cancioneiro Chinez 57
- Academic navel gazing? Playing the game up front? 75
- Las antologías sobre la traducción en la Península Ibérica 89
-
II. National and international canonization processes
- Poetry anthologies as Weltliteratur projects 107
- Publishing translated literature in late 19th century Portugal 123
- Short stories from foreign literatures in Portugália’s series Antologias Universais 137
- Patterns in the external history of Portuguese collections with translations of Polish literature (1855–2009) 153
- Extra-European literatures in anthology during the Estado Novo (1933–1974) 171
-
III. Selection and censorship
- Children’s literature in translation 189
- Translating German poetry into French under the Occupation 205
- The reception of science fiction and horror story anthologies in the last years of Francoist Spain 217
- Censored discourse in anthologies and collections of the Far West 229
- Philosophical collections, translation and censorship 247
- Translation anthologies and British literature in Portugal and Hungary between 1949 and 1974 259
- Notes on contributors and editors 275
- Name index 281
- Subject index 285
