Manipulation of The Lady of the Lake: Xie Xueyu’s Translation Practice in Colonial Taiwan

Title

Manipulation of The Lady of the Lake: Xie Xueyu’s Translation Practice in Colonial Taiwan

Author

Hung-shu CHEN

Page

37-74

DOI

10.6163/TJEAS.202112_18(2).0002

Abstract

Xie Xueyu (謝雪漁, 1871-1953) was a traditional literatus living in Taiwan during the Japanese occupation, who had a long and successful career in editing, writing, and translating. This case study foregrounds one of his translations, the short story entitled “The Heroic Legend: Queen of Scotland” (武勇傳：思谷蘭國女王). Specifically, possible source text Xie used to produce his translation is identified, which facilitates an analysis of Xie’s translation methods and their connection to the social currents of his time. The story “The Heroic Legend: Queen of Scotland” takes its basic plot from The Lady of the Lake, a narrative poem written in 1810 by Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). Through multiple facets, the translation was analyzed against its possible immediate source texts, leading to a conclusion that the text Xie used for his translation was The Pretty Lady of the Lake (湖の麗人), the 1936 Japanese translation of Scott’s original by Irie Naosuke (入江直祐, 1901-1991). Xie’s translation was not a straightforward reproduction in Chinese of Irie’s version, but was rather a manipulated text. He turned a tale of romance and war centered on a beautiful lady living on a lake into a political story of quelling unrest, one in which the queen takes center stage. Writing after the Second Sino-Japanese War had begun in 1937, Xie revealed his own political stance towards Japan. In his life, Xie took an active interest in the colonial power by studying Japanese, working for the Taiwan Governor-General’s Office as an editor of Taiwanese language teaching materials, and teaching the Taiwanese language to the Japanese occupiers. In his work, he similarly took a pro-Japanese stance by encouraging “Kōminka” (Japanization) and loyalty to the colonial government, a stance expressed throughout his lifelong dedication to writing and translating literary works in Chinese. Xie’s actions and his writings may have resulted from his desire to flow with the ideological and poetological currents of his time.

Keyword

Xie Xueyu, traditional literati, the lady of the lake, indirect translation, manipulation

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