Literature and translation: Literary translation from Chinese

Abstract

This essay is devoted to the topic of translating prose texts from Chinese into Hungarian. The author, who herself is a professional translator of literary texts, describes the various types of difficulties one encounters during the process of translation. Since the original talk was delivered at the 90th birthday of Prof. Barnabás Csongor, the majority of the examples are taken from his excellent translations of Chinese novels, especially from the Water Margin (Shuihuzhuan 水滸傳) and the Journey to the West (Xiyouji 西遊記). The author, among others, explores the differences of the various literary Chinese styles, their rendering into Hungarian, the method of translating Chinese names, the different skills required to translate a modern and a classical Chinese novel, and the importance of Chinese culture that is explicitly or implicitly present in the prose texts.