Pseudotranslation, intertextuality and metafictionality: three case studies of pseudotranslation from early twentieth-century China

摘要

The turn of the twentieth century saw a growing number of works of pseudotranslation in China. Pseudotranslation engages with authentic translation on three levels: textual, generic and discursive. It engages with authentic translations on the textual level because sometimes authors of pseudotranslation borrow various semantic units, such as words, phrases or passages, from authentic translations to construct their own disguised works. More importantly, pseudotranslation can be considered to be referring intertextually to the genre of translation, where genre is conceived as the specific norms and stylistic characteristics of literary translation. Pseudotranslation may also refer to specific discourses, that is, it makes use of certain discourses embodied in and represented by translations, as well as the source texts they represent. These three levels of intertextual engagement foreground the metafictional nature of pseudotranslation, that is, the way it reflects on and refracts authentic translations and domestic cultural and literary traditions. Three case studies of pseudotranslation in China at the beginning of the twentieth century are provided to illustrate and explore the three levels of intertextual engagement.