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Article published In: Babel
Vol. 68:2 (2022) ► pp.290–306

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Dung Kai-cheung’s Atlas in translation

 | Wenzhou University
 | Université d’Évry Paris-Saclay
Published online: 11 March 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00261.gly
Abstract
This article examines issues of translation in Dung Kai-cheung’s 董啟章 novel Dituji: Yige xiangxiang de chengshi de kaoguxue 地圖集：一個想像的城市的考古學 (Atlas: The Archaeology of an Imaginary City). In the first instance, it provides structural analyses of the constraints shaping the translation of the writer’s work from Chinese to English. It moves on to comment on the imbrication of Hong Kong’s history of translation in the puns and other word games, as well as in the narrative thread. Lastly, it compares different partial English translations of significant passages to (re-)map the linguistic and cultural transfer of this major work of contemporary Hong Kong literature.
Résumé
Cet article étudie le roman de Dung Kai-cheung Dituji: Yige xiangxiang de chengshi de kaoguxue 地圖集：一個想像的城市的考古學 [Atlas : Archéologie d’une ville imaginaire] au prisme de la traduction. Dans un premier temps, il propose une analyse structurelle des contraintes déterminant l’extraduction de l’œuvre du romancier du chinois vers l’anglais. Dans un second temps, il commente l’imbrication de l’histoire de la traduction à Hong Kong dans les calembours et autres jeux langagiers, ainsi que dans la trame narrative du roman. Enfin, il compare différentes traductions partielles en anglais de certains passages significatifs, afin de (re)cartographier le transfert linguistique et culturel de cette œuvre majeure de la littérature hongkongaise contemporaine.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Translating literature in Hong Kong
  • Translating Dung Kai-cheung
  • Mapping Atlas in translation
  • Translating locality
  • Layers of translation
  • Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
References (57)
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