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11Litera
Reference:
Zhang Y., Nikonova N.E. Translation and reader reception of L. N. Tolstoy's novels in China // Litera. 2024. № 3. DOI: 10.25136/2409-8698.2024.3.40600 EDN: HRUOSK URL: https//en.nbpublish.com/Hbrary_read_article.php?id=40600
Translation and reader reception of L. N. Tolstoy's novels in China
Chzhan Yan
ORCID: 0000-0003^523-2270
Postgraduate student, Department of Romano-Germanic and Classical Philology, Tomsk State University
634050, Russia, Tomsk region, Tomsk, Lenin Ave., 34, office 18
El Zhangyang-ok@yandex.ru
Nkonova Natal'ya Egorovna
Doctor of Philology
Professor, Department of Romano-Germanic and Classical Philology, Tomsk State University 634050, Russia, Tomsk region, Tomsk, 34 Ley na Ave., office 18
El nikonat2002@yandex.ru
Article was published in rubric "Literary criticism"
DOI:
10.25136/2409-8698.2024.3.40600
EDN:
HRUOSK
Received:
27-04-2023
Abstract: The article is devoted to the problem of translation and reader reception of L. N. Tolstoy's novels "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina" and "Resurrection" in China. The subject of the research in the article is the history of the translation reception of these three novels and their perception by Chinese readers. The material of the article was the Chinese review site"Douban. Reading". The purpose of this article is to analyze and compare the chronology of the work of Chinese authors on translations of three novels by Leo Tolstoy and the reviews of Chinese readers on them. Descriptive, analytical and comparative methods are used in the course of the study. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the
fact that the attempt of a comprehensive study of Chinese translations and reader's perception of three novels by Leo Tolstoy is being carried out for the first time in the science of Russian literature. As a result of the research, it is proved that of all the Russian classics, L. N. Tolstoy is one of the most popular in critical, translation and reader reception in China. By the middle of the twentieth century, three of the author's most famous novels were translated from the original Russian into Chinese. Currently, they still have a high research value, discussions of readers of these translations in China are also actively underway, while the novel "Resurrection" has the largest number of translations (30), and "Anna Karenina" is most popular with recipient readers. The result of this scientific work will be an addition to the knowledge of Russian literature, will expand the idea of the artistic world of Leo Tolstoy. The scientific and practical significance of the proposed work lies in the possibility of using its results in research works in the field of Russian-Chinese literary interrelations. In addition, the results of the study can be applied to the development of educational courses, as well as in traditional practice for commenting on the works of Leo Tolstoy.
Keywords:
Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Resurrection, literature, reception, translation, reader, review, chinese
References
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2. Gao, R. (2013). The Path, Reason and Misreading of Tolstoy's Works in the Late Qing Dynasty and the Early Republic of China. Foreign Literature Studies, 35(3), 118-124. doi:10.19915/j.cnki.fls.2013.03.015
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9. Douban, Read. (Ed.) (2011). Review of the novel War and Peace. Retrieved from https ://book.douban.com/subject/2253381/comments/?limit = 20&status = P&sort=score
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Peer Review
Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential. The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.
The topic of the reviewed work is not trivial, the author concerns the translation and reader's reception of L.N. Tolstoy's novels in China. There is no doubt that the review type of research is always advantageous, and potentially interesting for the reader. The presented material is competently structured, well-designed, while the author does not forget to decipher the indicated problem throughout the text. Russian Russian research style correlates with the scientific type: for example, "in the 1930s and 1940s, with the expansion of the circle of interested translators and with the improvement of Russian language proficiency, the number of novels translated from the original Russian continued to increase, and the quality of translation also improved significantly. Before the formation of the People's Republic of China (1949), a number of Tolstoy's works were translated, but The Resurrection was the first to become known to the Chinese reader. In June 1907, the first translation of Ma Junwu's "The Heart in Hell" was published in the Shanghai Commercial Publishing House. This translation was made from German and with abbreviations,"or "in the 1940s, Gao Zhi, a famous writer and translator who devoted himself to the study of Russian literature, began work on a Chinese translation of the novel "War and Peace", which Guo Mojo failed to complete. Gao Zhi was fluent in Russian, he corrected Guo Mojo's translation and finally completed it in 1942. When the full translation was published, two names Guo Mojo and Gao Zhi could be found on the cover. On this occasion, Guo Mojo said, "This complete translation is a crystallization of Gao Zhi's efforts alone." He also confirmed that Gao Zhi surpassed him: "The translation is very concise and faithful, and at the same time fully demonstrates the humility and meticulousness of the translator." After the first publication in 1942, this version was corrected and republished in
1947 and 1951," etc. The positive vector of the work is its chronological type, a potential reader will be able to put together a complete picture of the perception of Leo Tolstoy's work in China. No serious contradictions were revealed in the work, the rigor of the nominations is impressive: "speaking of the Chinese reception of Tolstoy's works, one cannot but mention Cao Ying (1923-2015), vice-president of the country's Translators Association, who began learning Russian at the age of 15 with a native speaker in Shanghai and became a translator at the age of 18. He was the first in China to translate the works of M.A. Sholokhov, but his greatest achievement is considered to be the translation of the complete works of L.N. Tolstoy. The author began translating in 1960, and spent 20 years (1978-1998) retransmitting the work. In 1987, for his outstanding contribution to the development of Russian literary translation, Cao Ying received the Gorky Prize from the Union of Writers of Russia,"or "an analysis of the content of readers' reflections left on the website about this novel shows that Chinese readers preferred the translation of the novel War and Peace Cao Ying, which was published by the Shanghai Publishing House of Literature and Art in 2007. As of January 31, 2023, the book was rated by a total of 6969 users of the website, the average rating is 9.4. Among them, 75.2% of readers gave the novel the highest rating (5 stars), strongly recommending the work for reading. 20.5% of users rated it 4 stars, 3.7% considered the novel to be "average", and only 0.6% said it was not worth reading. It was also noted that although 6,969 people participated in the evaluation of the Chinese translation of this publication, only 1,818 readers left specific comments, 95% of reviewers gave a positive assessment, and 3% set aside neutral reviews, 2% of readers gave a negative assessment," etc. The research topic has been disclosed, the goal has been achieved: the result of the work is the conclusion that "considering the novels "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina" and "Resurrection" by L.N. Tolstoy from the point of view of translation reception in China, the novel "Resurrection" (30 translations) has become particularly widespread, from the point of view of reader perception, the novel "Anna Karenina" has the largest readership. With the change of time and with the increased interest of modern literature science in the problems of intercultural communication, receptive aesthetics, literary translation, Russian-Chinese inter-literary relations, the charm of Tolstoy and his works is more revealed in China. Russian Russian classic novels' perception in China to a certain extent also reflects the reception of Russian literature in the cultural world of China and complements the idea of the history of Chinese-Russian cultural transfer." The text is full-fledged, original, independent; editing of the work is unnecessary. I recommend the article "Translation and reader reception of L.N. Tolstoy's novels in China" for open publication in the magazine "Litera".
