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#