Wang Feibai
Nekrassov’s poem Who is Happy in Russia?
Wang Feibai (1929- ), known
新浪博客
Wang Feibai
Nekrassov’s poem Who is Happy in Russia?
Wang Feibai (1929- ), known
as Fei Bai, was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and is revered
in China as a translator of poetry and a scholar. He is the author
of Oceans of Poetry: An Outline of World Poetry and Travelling on
the Oceans of Poetry. He has translated foreign poems from a dozen
languages, including English, Russian, French, German, Italian,
Latin and Spanish. His poetry translations include
People often call Fei Bai the “sailor on the oceans of poetry.” Not only has he written two volumes of
To Fei Bai, this nickname represents a life spent wandering as well as the intrinsic freedom of human nature and the soul. Fei Bai is a “free spirit in the world of poetry” and an “envoy” for cross-cultural communication. He is reluctant to omit any field of world poetry, and it is his lifelong ambition to be immersed in the oceans of poetry.
As a translator of poetry, Fei Bai first became renowned in literary circles in 1957. At that time, Fei Bai, serving in the military, translated Soviet poet Aleksandr Tvardovsky’s poem about World War II titled
His later translations of Tvardovsky’s poems and other works by Soviet poets had a great influence on the world of foreign literature. For most Chinese readers, the works of Tvardovsky, Mayakovsky, Nekrasov and other famous Soviet poets are synonymous with Fei Bai’s translations.
In the mid-1980s, Fei Bai translated and published
After years of work, he completed two volumes of Oceans of Poetry and 10 volumes of the
Fei Bai’s
There are many obstacles when writing multilingual translations of poetry, but Fei has overcome each one. He thinks that translators should focus on conveying the style of the source material because word-for-word translations often fall short in this regard. The “conventional” translation method often pays little heed to literary style, and only puts emphasis on words and phrases.
By contrast, he advocates “stylized translations” and advises translators to do their best to reflect original poets’ personalized features. In order to improve the transparency of reflecting poetic style, translators should listen to poets’ voices and get into the spirit of poets to let their own standardized translations make way for poets’ non-standardized styles.
He examined foreign literary works from the perspective of native language and culture, proposing the “theory of cultural reflection.” How should foreign literature be translated and integrated into national literature?
Fei’s “theory of cultural reflection” utilizes a fairytale narrative method to demonstrate that translated literature is actually a reflection of native language. Native language is like a house surrounded by the walls of language barriers and the colored glass window of literary styles. So once foreign literature is translated (reflected) into the “house” of the native language, there is no way to avoid transformation and misunderstanding. The resulting problem of whether translated literature should be regarded as foreign literature deserves of consideration.
Fu Shouxiang is from East China University of Political Science and Law.
People often call Fei Bai the “sailor on the oceans of poetry.” Not only has he written two volumes of
To Fei Bai, this nickname represents a life spent wandering as well as the intrinsic freedom of human nature and the soul. Fei Bai is a “free spirit in the world of poetry” and an “envoy” for cross-cultural communication. He is reluctant to omit any field of world poetry, and it is his lifelong ambition to be immersed in the oceans of poetry.
As a translator of poetry, Fei Bai first became renowned in literary circles in 1957. At that time, Fei Bai, serving in the military, translated Soviet poet Aleksandr Tvardovsky’s poem about World War II titled
His later translations of Tvardovsky’s poems and other works by Soviet poets had a great influence on the world of foreign literature. For most Chinese readers, the works of Tvardovsky, Mayakovsky, Nekrasov and other famous Soviet poets are synonymous with Fei Bai’s translations.
In the mid-1980s, Fei Bai translated and published
After years of work, he completed two volumes of Oceans of Poetry and 10 volumes of the
Fei Bai’s
There are many obstacles when writing multilingual translations of poetry, but Fei has overcome each one. He thinks that translators should focus on conveying the style of the source material because word-for-word translations often fall short in this regard. The “conventional” translation method often pays little heed to literary style, and only puts emphasis on words and phrases.
By contrast, he advocates “stylized translations” and advises translators to do their best to reflect original poets’ personalized features. In order to improve the transparency of reflecting poetic style, translators should listen to poets’ voices and get into the spirit of poets to let their own standardized translations make way for poets’ non-standardized styles.
He examined foreign literary works from the perspective of native language and culture, proposing the “theory of cultural reflection.” How should foreign literature be translated and integrated into national literature?
Fei’s “theory of cultural reflection” utilizes a fairytale narrative method to demonstrate that translated literature is actually a reflection of native language. Native language is like a house surrounded by the walls of language barriers and the colored glass window of literary styles. So once foreign literature is translated (reflected) into the “house” of the native language, there is no way to avoid transformation and misunderstanding. The resulting problem of whether translated literature should be regarded as foreign literature deserves of consideration.
Fu Shouxiang is from East China University of Political Science and Law.