Translator shapes emotion in classic play’s Chinese version
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Hong Shen, translating Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan from English to Chinese, altered stage directions to emphasize emotional expression.
Researchers compared Shen’s work to translations by Shen Xingren and Yu Guangzhong. The analysis revealed Hong Shen systematically changed stage directions by adding, removing, or adapting them, which increased the overall emotional impact of the play.
These changes included making characters’ inner thoughts clearer, turning spoken commands into physical actions, and connecting characters’ actions to what would happen next in the story. The researchers found that Hong’s translation created a stronger sense of conflict, shifted emotional tones toward neutrality, and made emotional changes more pronounced. The study suggests stage directions provide translators with a space to balance faithfulness to the original text with the needs of a theatrical performance.
By actively reshaping the play through stage directions, Hong Shen became a collaborator in how the drama would eventually be performed. The researchers used computer analysis of language alongside interpretation to reach their conclusions, highlighting the value of these methods for studying drama translation.
