Abstract
Initially touching artifacts and sculpture from ancient Greece, and the risk of misreading thought or emotion cross-culturally, this essay draws briefly on Wordsworth’s testimony that poetic process arises first in a primally sensual and pre-verbal zone. The essay then proposes that similar practice, carried by craft and poetic experience in the target language, may be equally advantageous in poetry translation, while helping bridge individual and cross-cultural differences. In light of this, the essay’s second half addresses translational details in rendering Cao Shuying’s poem “I Often Read, Early Mornings.”
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2017 by Lingnan University. All rights reserved.
Language
English
Recommended Citation
O'Connell, G., & Shi, D. (2017). Half-Heard Voices of the Primal Zone; Sleep and Waking in a Poem by Cao Shuying. Journal of Modern Literature in Chinese, 14(2)-15(1), 129-145.