THE TRANSLATABILITY OF CHINESE POETRY TO PORTUGUESE AND WESTERN LANGUAGES中國詩歌譯成葡文及其他西文的可譯性
This article examines the “translatability” of Chinese poetry into Portuguese and other Western languages, arguing that assessing this possibility depends, first of all, on recognizing the spatiotemporal situatedness of languages. Starting from the idea that language is a historically located social...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Articles |
| Published: |
Instituto Cultural de Macau
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40044/2422 |
| _version_ | 1877196270256259072 |
|---|---|
| author | Júlio Reis Jatobá |
| author_autocomplete | Júlio Reis Jatobá |
| author_browse | Júlio Reis Jatobá |
| author_facet | Júlio Reis Jatobá Júlio Reis Jatobá |
| author_sort | Júlio Reis Jatobá |
| container_title | Review of Culture |
| container_title_str | Review of Culture |
| container_volume | 44 |
| container_volume_str | 44 |
| description | This article examines the “translatability” of Chinese poetry into Portuguese and other Western languages, arguing that assessing this possibility depends, first of all, on recognizing the spatiotemporal situatedness of languages. Starting from the idea that language is a historically located social fact, the text argues that the translation of classical Chinese poetry requires defining “which” Chinese is at stake (at least in diachronic, geographic, and sociopolitical terms), since the very notion of language often eludes strictly linguistic boundaries. The analysis discusses, as an example, the implications of the ideographic writing system and the tendency, common in Western receptions, to confuse characters with pictograms/ideograms, which fosters exoticization and mythification of Chinese writing. Based on theoretical references and a critical reading of translation discourses, the article mobilizes the case of the translator Camilo Pessanha and his comments on the incompatibility between the art of the ideogram and European phonetic writing. It concludes that the difficulties and possibilities of translation derive not only from linguistic correspondences but also from cultural frameworks and power relations inscribed in the history of languages and their receptions. |
| first_indexed | 2026-09-11T02:56:58Z |
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| hierarchy_browse | Review of Culture{{{_ID_}}}zotero-coll-76L3BRGH |
| hierarchy_parent_id | zotero-coll-76L3BRGH |
| hierarchy_parent_title | Review of Culture |
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| issn | 1682-1106 |
| last_indexed | 2026-09-11T02:56:58Z |
| latest_content_date | 2026-09-11T02:56:58Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publishDateRange | 2013 |
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| publishPlace | Macau |
| publisher | Instituto Cultural de Macau |
| publisherStr | Instituto Cultural de Macau |
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| spelling | THE TRANSLATABILITY OF CHINESE POETRY TO PORTUGUESE AND WESTERN LANGUAGES中國詩歌譯成葡文及其他西文的可譯性 This article examines the “translatability” of Chinese poetry into Portuguese and other Western languages, arguing that assessing this possibility depends, first of all, on recognizing the spatiotemporal situatedness of languages. Starting from the idea that language is a historically located social fact, the text argues that the translation of classical Chinese poetry requires defining “which” Chinese is at stake (at least in diachronic, geographic, and sociopolitical terms), since the very notion of language often eludes strictly linguistic boundaries. The analysis discusses, as an example, the implications of the ideographic writing system and the tendency, common in Western receptions, to confuse characters with pictograms/ideograms, which fosters exoticization and mythification of Chinese writing. Based on theoretical references and a critical reading of translation discourses, the article mobilizes the case of the translator Camilo Pessanha and his comments on the incompatibility between the art of the ideogram and European phonetic writing. It concludes that the difficulties and possibilities of translation derive not only from linguistic correspondences but also from cultural frameworks and power relations inscribed in the history of languages and their receptions. Instituto Cultural de Macau Macau Review of Culture Articles 2013 Júlio Reis Jatobá |
| spellingShingle | THE TRANSLATABILITY OF CHINESE POETRY TO PORTUGUESE AND WESTERN LANGUAGES中國詩歌譯成葡文及其他西文的可譯性 Júlio Reis Jatobá |
| title | THE TRANSLATABILITY OF CHINESE POETRY TO PORTUGUESE AND WESTERN LANGUAGES中國詩歌譯成葡文及其他西文的可譯性 |
| title_autocomplete | THE TRANSLATABILITY OF CHINESE POETRY TO PORTUGUESE AND WESTERN LANGUAGES中國詩歌譯成葡文及其他西文的可譯性 |
| title_full | THE TRANSLATABILITY OF CHINESE POETRY TO PORTUGUESE AND WESTERN LANGUAGES中國詩歌譯成葡文及其他西文的可譯性 |
| title_fullStr | THE TRANSLATABILITY OF CHINESE POETRY TO PORTUGUESE AND WESTERN LANGUAGES中國詩歌譯成葡文及其他西文的可譯性 |
| title_full_unstemmed | THE TRANSLATABILITY OF CHINESE POETRY TO PORTUGUESE AND WESTERN LANGUAGES中國詩歌譯成葡文及其他西文的可譯性 |
| title_short | THE TRANSLATABILITY OF CHINESE POETRY TO PORTUGUESE AND WESTERN LANGUAGES中國詩歌譯成葡文及其他西文的可譯性 |
| title_sort | the translatability of chinese poetry to portuguese and western languages中國詩歌譯成葡文及其他西文的可譯性 |
| url | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40044/2422 |
| zotero_collection_key | 76L3BRGH |