essay on 19 ways of wang wei
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8/18/2019 Essay on 19 Ways of Wang Wei
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Macalaster Schmidt
Media Aesthetics- Muse
March 12, 2016
What a Time to be Alive:
An Analysis of Wan Wei
Translation as a function for communicatin !ith "eo"le !ith different lanuaes has
undeniably been a benefit for the !orld as a !hole# $o!ever, its reliability to maintain creative
e%"ression has been &uestioned in the realm of linual studies# 19 Ways of Looking at Wang Wei
by 'liot Weinberer e%amines the difference in translation across various lanuaes of a "oem
!ritten 1(00 years ao# This te%t reveals that lanuae and its ambiuous sinifiers contributes
to the loss in translation because the imaery of the oriinal te%t is une&ual to its re"roduction#
Additionally, creatin a re"roduction in a different lanuae increases the authority of the
mediator, the translator, !hich can s"ar) ne! meanin behind an e%istin "iece of literature all
!hile retainin a similar imae#
Translation leads to ambiuity due to the !ay sinifiers reflect the sinified# The
relationshi" of the sinifier and the sinified is arbitrary: *+anuae is a system of
interde"endent terms in !hich the value of each term results solely from the simultaneous
"resence of the others Saussure, 116.# /ifferent lanuaes have different values the !orld is
essentially *carved u" into different !ords, but all lanuaes *carve u" the !orld
inde"endently and in their o!n uni&ue manner# or e%am"le, *mountain most does not certainly
e&ual *hill, and *sound is not the same as *to echo# $o!ever, there is do distinction bet!een
*mountain and *hill in hinese, they are one in the same, des"ite the obvious different "hysical
characteristics# Moreover, *3in, means *brihtness. or *shado!s. even thouh they are
o""osites in 'nlish Weinberer, 6,4.# Saussure asserts that there is no natural correlation
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Weinberer, 6.# The unclarity and inability to create an e&ual re"roduction is a loss, and !hy
Scho"enhauer !rote that *"oems cannot be translated they can only be trans"osed#
Trans"osition enerates a a broad set of rules that the different translations abide by, but each
have room to e%"lore in reard to their imaery# All of the 'nlish translations of Wan Wei7s
"oem contain a tall landmass, sunliht, auditory noises, a mass of trees, and colorful flo!erless
livin oranisms that rest on the trees# urthermore, the t!o ma3or "arts of the "oem, the
*solitude of the forest and the *a""arition of liht and its *silently visual sensations are
retained in each Weinberer, a? mentions that this "oem *carries to an e%treme
the characteristics of hinese "oetry: universality, im"ersonality, absence of time, absence of
sub3ect Weinberer, (1.# 8n the character-by-character translation, the first t!o !ords are
*em"ty and *mountains. or *hills.# W#9#; letcher starts of his "oem !ith *so lone seem
the hills Weinberer 6,=.# letcher adds "ersonification to the hills to create intimacy and a sad
sense of lonin, somethin that does not a""ear in the other translations# Addin literary
mechanisms li)e these further demonstrate that ains can be made by alterin the te%t, and thus
the imaery of the "oem# urthermore, even thouh the translator has to ma)e a choice on !hich
translated !ord to use if there is a difference in sinified value, they can still ma)e this choice
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based on "reference# The translator mediates the translational "rocess and has authority on !hat
reaches the reader# Weinberer ac)no!ledes that *a "oem dies !hen it has no "lace to o
Weinberer, 1.# 8n essence, he sees that the transformations bet!een all of the translations,
carried out by the translator, increases the lonevity of the "oem because "ortrayin an oriinal
te%t in a slihtly different liht is fascinatin and refreshin#
The translator "lays an interal role in ma)in sure that the oriinal "oem is "reserved
des"ite the differences bet!een its re"roduction# Translation "ermits some free realm into
chanin the imaery behind an e%istin test !hich can be seen as an im"rovement, des"ite the
"roblems !ith "roducin e&ual values in different lanuaes# @onetheless, authors have ta)e a
"oem from the 4th century and formed it into a re3uvenatin "iece !ith vivid imaery# Sharin
art !ith different cultures teaches us the different "hiloso"hies and behaviors of "eo"le all across
the lobe# The technoloical ae has accelerated lobali?ation, a "rocess no! necessary for the
survival and "roliferation of countries# Translation has been an im"ortant factor in this e&uation,
and never has there been such an accessible !ay to connect !ith any "erson on the "lanet# There
is sincerity the statement: !hat a time to be alive#
Works Cited
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Weinberer, 'liot, ctavio >a?, and Wei Wan# @ineteen Ways of +oo)in at Wan Wei: $o! a
hinese >oem 8s Translated# Mount Bisco, @C: Moyer ;ell, 15=4# >rint#
Saussure, erdinand /e# D+inuistic Ealue#D ourse in Feneral +inuistics# @e! Cor):
>hiloso"hical +ibrary, 15G5# 110-2(# >rint#
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