Analysis on English Version of Can Xue’s Hut on the Mountain by Means of Decolonization

School of Humanities&Education Science,Foshan University,Foshan,China Email:heling527@163.com

Zhang Xiao Bo

Faculty of Foreign Languages,Guangdong Ocean University,Zhanjiang,China Email:zhxb601@163.com

[Abstract]Can Xue is one of the Chinese contemporary female writers,whose novels are translated into different languages and gain its popularity in the west world.However,her works are always misinterprepted as cultural“other”in the context of western hegemony.In this paper,on the basis of identifying the characteristics of world literature of Can Xue’s works,by means of decolonization,the translation of her short novel Hut on the Mountain is deconstructed from three aspects—deformed women images,grotesque images and nightmare narration.It attempts to give some enlightments to Chinese literature“going out”.

[Keywords]Can Xue;Hut on the Mountain;decolonization;other;world literature

INTRODUCTION

Can Xue is a female writer of Chinese contemporary literature who has obtained her popularity in the west world.A large number of her works has been translated into many languages,enjoying a good reputation among readers and academic circles.In terms of the English verstions,according to the latest statistics(Can,2020),37 short stories and 7 literary reviews have been translated into English,and 11 novels or collections of short stories have been published,includingDialogues in Paradise(1989),Old Floating Cloud:Two Novellas(1991),TheEmbroidered Shoes(1997),Blue Light in the Sky and Other Stories(2006),Five Spice Street(2009),Vertical Motion(2011),The Last Lover(2014),Frontier(2017),Love in the New Millennium(2018),Train Dreams(2018),I Live in the Slums:Stories(2020).In 2015,The Last Love won the Best Translated Literature Award in the United States,which is the first time for Chinese writers or works to win the award,and it has also been titled the 2015 British Independent Foreign Fiction Award and 2016 US Newcastle International Literature Award.In 2019,Love in the New Millenniumhas been nominated for the Booker International Award,known as the“highest award in contemporary English fiction”,and also has been nominated for the Best Translated Literature Award in the United States again.

These are enough to show the“translatability”of Can Xue's works into the western world,but whether this translatability is based only on the literary value of Can Xue's works itself remains to be explored.This paper attempts to analyze it from the perspective of Post-colonial theory,taking English version of her short novelHut on the Mountaintranslated by Ronald R.Janssen and Jian Zhang as a case.

“OTHERNESS”AND DECOLONIZATION

“Otherness”,or Cultural Otherness,is a key concept in the discourse system of post colonialism.According to Foucault,“in cultural research,when a culture shapes itself as the dominated value,setting up its power order and culture identity,it creates a cultural image opposite to itself,whether superior or inferior”(Zhou,2006,p.4).In his masterpieceOrientalism,Edward.W.Said put forward the concept of Orientalism and profoundly revealed the phenomenon of western cultural colonization and hegemony(Said,1977).Under the dualistic thinking mode,the oriental culture is shaped as a backward,barbaric,ignorant and marginalized“cultural otherness”to confirm its westerncentered cultural identity.“The western modern culture,while relating barbarism to the East,has incorporated the image of China into the discourse system of‘barbaric East’”(Zhou,2005,p.88-89).Therefore,from the perspective of western hegemonism,the civilized west advocates rationality and science,freedom of worships and prosperity,while "barbaric China",as the cultural otherness,is stuck in ignorance and superstition,closure and stagnation,as well as tyranny and poverty.

Enlightened by Said's Orientalism theory,translation researchers realize the important role of translation in the power differentials between the oriental and western cultures.In his worksTranslation and Empire:Postcolonial Theories Explained,Douglas Robinson(2014,p.31)stated that“translation plays three sequential but overlapping roles of in postcolonial studies:

as a channel of colonization,parallel to and connected with education and the overt or covert control of markets and institutions;

as a lightning-rod for cultural inequalities continuing after the collapse of colonialism;and

as a channel of decolonization.”

In the context of power diffeentials between western culture and oriental culture,translation should act“as a channel of decolonization”so as to play a positive role in resisting cultural imperialism.To be more specific,“when translating and introducing the texts of oriental culture,the west should respect not only the national identity of the oriential culture but also the differences in ideology and value system between the East and the west,so that an unrewritten eastern text,a real‘East’,can be unfolded in the western culture，and vice versa.Only in this way can we finally build a new type of East-West relationship of dialogue,mutual infiltration,symbiosis,harmony and equality”(Wang,2003,p.6).

“OTHERNESS”INTERPRETED IN CAN XUE’S WORKS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF DECOLONIZATION

Can Xue’s first English short story collectionDialogues in Heavenis one of the first two contemporary avantgarde fictions to be introduced to the west(Yu,2010,p.278).The translators should be alert to Western misreading of the East and avoid the cultural colonialism,so as to achieve the equal cultural exchange.

“Otherness”Misinterpreted in Can Xue’s Works

Yu Shuang(2010,p.283)exposes that“these contemporary avant-garde fictions only depict the irrationality in the characters’state of mind rather than making a deep exploration into the external reality in which characters live,let alone the broader socio-political life.And there was often a lack of social significance in these writings...”.In an interview with Jonathan Griffith,Can Xue expounded the characters and background of her fictions in detail,that is,“they are not social people,and the backgrounds are not political either.I endow them with deeper meaning.The processed materials are something that I metamorphose in my‘vacuum processing workshop’”(Griffith,2011,p.85).These statements indicate that Can Xue’s works are not very political.However,the western culture accepts CanXue’s works in the opposite way.Daniel J.Bauer,a famous American writer,published a book review on the content and style ofDialogues in Paradise(1989)in the journal ofAsian folklore studies,saying that“Can Xue mixes bizarre fantasies with a steady stream of recollections of life in China during the Cultural Revolution”and that“some moments in the narration take on the cloak of a self-reflexive text with marked political allusion”(Bauer,1990,pp.338-339).It provides an evidence that the western world follows the stereotype of attaching the“political”label to Chinese contemporary literature,which is its inherent cultural psychological set and acceptance habit.Can Xue herself also said,“I was very surprised when I was in the United States in April 2009,when I told some of my readers that my novel was not a political thing,they didn’t agree with me.”(Griffith,2011,p.85)The subjective assumption of the image of the“cultural otherness”by the dominated western culture reproduces the western imagination of China's mystery,backwardness and violence,as well as its contempt for China’s autocratic system.But it should be noticed that“the‘Orientalism’observed with the biased standing of postcolonialism can only mislead people”(Wang,1995).Therefore,if the western readers continue to fall into the pattern of the western cultural hegemony,taking the oriental culture to be distorted,biased and filtered,their misinterpretation of Can Xue’s works as“cultural otherness”will be aggravated,which is neither in line with the original intention of the author and the translator,nor conducive to the reading of Western readers.

Characteristics of World Literature in Can Xue’s Works

Can Xue ascribes her works to new experimental literature and considers it to be“a free mode of blending Chinese and Western cultures”(Can,2019,p.115),which is shown in two characteristics.

First,in terms of writing techniques,Can Xue’s literary creation belongs to the technique of subconsciousness and presents the feature of mysterious narration as she dilutes the narration of the story and the plot,and explores the nature of life through unconventional behavior,unrestrained monologue or dialogue,and irrational dreaminess.Her automatic writing is undoubtedly influenced by western surrealists,e.g.Borges,Kafka,and also reflects the classical romantic spirit of Hunan local culture in which Can Xue grew up.She once explained the characteristics of her works in detail,“in the view of foreigners,my works have blending flavors of east and west,for I combine the color beauty in the oriental culture with the sense of hierarchy in western culture,which not only provoke readers’meditation,but also brings pleasure to readers’formal logical thinking”(Shu,2007).Therefore,Can Xue’s works is the integration and transformation of Chinese and western literature.

Second,in terms of the content,Can Xue said in an interview,“what I wanted to express is the experience of the human being”(Griffith,2011,p.85).To be more specific,Can Xue probes into the nature of life and the state of mind of individuals,which infinitely enlarges people’s inner world.“The theme of Can Xue’s novels is the most cosmopolitan and human.She does not refer to the nationality,let alone the regionalism,but she takes the trouble to write a kind of human fable with warning significance.”(Zhuo,2012,p.45)Accordingly,the spiritual core of her exploration can be shared by all human beings with the universal value,whether oriental or western.

The above two characteristics contribute to the characteristics of world literature in Can Xue’s works.Can Xue’s works should not be regarded as the“other”opposite to the western culture,but as a world literature of the human spirit.Therefore,in the process of translation,facing the cultural hegemony of the western world,the translator should adopt the means of decolonization,so as to restore the true cultural image of the original in the English world.

DECONSTRUCTING THE ENGLISH VERSION OF HUT ON THE MOUNTAIN

Hut on the Mountain,published in 1985,is one of the representatives of Can Xue’s short novels.“Along with the other two short novels,it established Can Xue’s unique writing style,that is,the nightmare narration,the evil and grotesque images,as well as the theme of psychoanalysis and deformation”(Zhuo,2002,p.98).In 1988,Sinologist Ronald R.Janssen and the Chinese American scholar Jian Zhang retranslated the novel and included it in Can Xue’s first English novel collectionDialogues in Heaven.When it comes to the intention of translating Can Xue’s works,Zhang said,“I...saw the significance of the translation project in changing the Western stereotyped consideration of Chinese literature as merely a study of ancient civilization or political realism”(Zhang,1997,p.242).Therefore,Janssen and Zhang adopt the means of decolonization so that western readers can appreciate the literary charm of Can Xue’s writing.

Translation of Deformed Women Images

For a long time,the pursuit of women’s equal rights has been a common topic of concern in world literature,so is the case inHut on the Mountain.From the perspective of Westernization,due to their dependence on men,oriental women are tolerant and restrained,timid and silent and especially mothers are dedicated,gentle and patient.However,inHut on the Mountain,these deformed female images completely subvert the oriental aesthetic taste and female images in the deep-rooted concept of the western world,and reflect the rebellion against the cultural otherness in the western hegemony.However,to a certain extent,these female images also reflect the characters of women in Hunan Province,China,who have the rebellious spirit of challenging the old tradition and the boldness of pursuing the self.This is Can Xue’s response to western modern literature with the flavor of Hunan literary writing.In translation,translators mainly adopt the strategy of literal translation,sumplemented by some literary skills,to convey the deformed female images and tense family relations in the original,and on some occasions they even show the conflicts in a prominent way.Take the following sentences and the according translation for example.

（1）“抽屉永生永世也清理不好，哼。”妈妈说，朝我做出一个虚伪的笑容。

“Huh,you’ll never get done with those drawers”,said Mother,forcing a smile."Not in your lifetime”.

（2）妈妈小心翼翼地盯着我，向门边退去，我看见她一边脸上的肉在可笑地惊跳。

She fixed her eyes on me as she backed toward the door.I saw the flesh of one of her cheeks contort ridiculously.

（3）但是她正恶狠狠地盯着我的后脑勺，我感觉得出来。每次她盯着我的后脑勺，我头皮上被她盯的那块地方就发麻，而且肿起来。

But I had a feeling she was glaring ferociously at the back of my head since the spot would become numb and swollen whenever she did that.

The above three examples are all descriptions of mother's teriffying behaviors.In example(1),the translator adds the negative phrases“not in your life”at the end of the sentence.It seems like a curse of the mother for her daughter's action of“never cleaning the drawer well”,and the effect of emphasis is achieved.In example(2),although“惊跳”means“to startle”literally,it is adpatedly translated into“contort”,which means“to become twisted or make sth twisted out of its natural or normal shape”.When combined with the subject“the flesh of one of her cheeks”,the translation shows the image of the devil mother incisively and vividly.In example(3),the verbal phrase“恶狠狠地盯着”describes the mother’s hostile attitude towards“me”,which can be fully expressed by the phrase“glare at”in English.However,the word“ferociously”is added to modify“glare at”,which originally is used to describe the cruelty and savageness of animals.Through the addition,the emotion of mother’s hatred is emphasized and strengthened.In these three examples,the detailed translation of mother's evil behaviors reproduces the feminist thought in Can Xue’s works,dispels the inherent concept of oriental women in the western world,and achieves the goal of decolonization.

Translation of Grotesque Images

Grotesque images are one of the prominent features in all fictions written by Can Xue,for example,in the short storyHut on the Mountain,the father turning into a terrible wolf at night,the earthworm crawling in the mother’s temple,and the dense fly droppings scattered on the glass window.Can Xue’s creation of these grotesque images is influenced by two elements.First,grotesque image is an important writing technique commonly used in modernist literary works,such as the protagonist turning into a beetle in Franz Kafka’sMetamorphosis,the child having a pig's tail and the last person in the family being eaten by ants in Marquez'sOne Hundred Years of Solitude,etc.Greatly influenced by Franz Kafka she tries to display the contradiction between human spirit and the reality through the ugly images.Second,the myths and legends of witchcraft told by her grandmother in her childhood are deeply rooted in Can Xue's mind,bringing a strong cultural style of witchcraft in Hunan province into the grotesque images.

InHut on the Mountain,the grotesque and horrible atmosphere is strengthened by means of onomatopoeia,for example,“我的胃里面结出了小小的冰块。我坐在围椅里的时候，听见它们丁丁当当响个不停”and“终于有一回，我到了井边，试着放下吊桶去，绳子又重又滑，我的手一软，木桶发出轰隆一声巨响，散落在井中”.As to it,the translator adopts the strategies of addition or adaptation,so as to enhance the expressiveness,and readiblity of the original in the western world.Take the following sentences and the according translation for example.

（4）隔壁房里，你和父亲的鼾声格外沉重，震得瓶瓶罐罐在碗柜里跳跃起来。

In the next room,Father and you snore terribly,rattling the utensils in the kitchen cabinet.

（5）“每次你在井边挖得那块麻石响，我和你妈就被悬到了半空......

“Every time you dig by the well and hit stone with a screeching sound,you make Mother and me feel as if we were hanging in midair.

（6）她在隔壁房里走来走去，弄得“踏踏”作响，使我胡思乱想。

She’d walk to and fro in the next room,stamping,stamping,to my great distraction.

（7）我听见他反复不停地将吊桶放下去，在井壁上碰出的响声。

I heard him letting the bucket down and drawing it up,again and again,the bucket hit against the wall of the well—boom,boom,boom.

In the above examples(4)and(5),the onomatopoeic words“rattle”and“screening”are added into translation respectively,which vividly express the actions“shock”and“digging”and aggravate the stimulating and terrifying atmosphere .In examples(6)and(7),the onomatopoeic adjectives“踏踏”and“轰隆隆”in the original sentences describe the sound of mother’s heavy footsteps and the bucket hitting the well wall,conveying a mysterious and terrifying atmosphere.In the translation,they are expressed by repeated verbs,that is,“踏踏”into“stamping,stamping”and“轰隆隆”into“boom,boom,boom”.They not only make the sentences motional and vivid,but also perform the function of emphasizing absurdity and horror.Moreover,the well,the stone,and the bucket are the common items in the witchcraft in Hunan province.Consequently,the translation achieves a good effect of decolonization,for through the translators’efforts,western readers can learn the characteristcs of world literature for the combination of the grotesque images in modernist literature with the weird imagination derived from the witchcraft in Hunan province.

Translation of Nightmare Narration

Can Xue’s novels are also characterized by the unique nightmare narration,through which she creates the surly,panic,dangerous interpersonal interaction.Huang Jiahui(2013,p.163)pointed out that the language style of Can Xue’s novels are“based on dreams and sensory hallucinations,and do not comply with the norms of realistic logic and rationality”.Being broken,unconsistent,illogical,and distorted in language,this irrational style destroys the coherence and clarity of realistic novel,which is the unique aesthetic in her novels.In Can Xue’s own words,“I want to say these words in the form of literature and fantasy”.In a word,this narrative mode violates the common narration of Chinese writers and subverts the image of cultural otherness in the western vision.Take the following paragraph and its translation as an example.

（8）有一个人在井边捣鬼。我听见他反复不停地将吊桶放下去，在井壁上碰出轰隆隆的响声。天明的时候，他咚地一声扔下木桶，跑掉了。我打开隔壁的房门，看见父亲正在昏睡，一只暴出青筋的手难受地抠紧了床沿，在梦中发出惨烈的呻吟。母亲披头散发，手持一把条帚在地上扑来扑去。她告诉我，在天明的那一瞬间，一大群天牛从窗口飞进来，撞在墙上，落得满地皆是。她起床来收拾，把脚伸进拖鞋，脚趾被藏在拖鞋里的天牛咬了一口，整条腿肿得像根铅柱。

Someone was making trouble by the well.I heard him letting the bucket down and drawing it up,again and again; the bucket hit against the wall of the well—boom,boom,boom.At dawn,he dropped the bucket with a loud bang and ran away.I opened the door of the next room and saw Father sleeping with his vein-ridged hand clutching the bedside,groaning in agony.Mother was beating the floor here and there with a broom;her hair was disheveled.At the moment of daybreak,she told me,a huge swarm of hideous beetles flew in through the window.They bumped against the walls and flopped onto the floor,which now was scattered with their remains.She got up to tidy up the room,and as she was putting her feet into her slippers,a hidden bug bit her toe.Now her whole leg was swollen like a thick lead pipe.

Can Xue’s nightmare narration reads like an endless and painful nightmare.The whole paragraph mostly consists of short sentences and colloquial words.While the sentences are seemingly illogical and incoherent,in fact they are well-organized in meaning.The illusory narration of the groaning father,the disheveled mother,and the huge swarm of hideous beetles compose the absurd images of the deformation of human appearance and the physiological pain of the human body,which reveals the mental torment of family members and intensifies the reader's sensory stimulation.In the English version,literal translation is adopted to basically retain the meaning and sentence structures of the original.To be more specific,the sentences are mainly translated into colloquial expressions and simple ones with only a few coordinate and subordinate sentences.Meanwhile,some figures of speech such as juxtaposition,onomatopoeia and metaphor are employed to enhance the expressiveness of the English version and reproduce the poetic fantasy of Can Xue's works.For example,the phrases of“反复不停”and“轰隆隆”are tackled by means of repetition into colloquial expressions“again and again”and“boom,boom”;the sentence“一大群天牛从窗口飞进来，撞在墙上，落得满地皆是”is composed of three consecutive verbal clauses,and the verbs—“bumped”,“flopped”and“scattered”are expressive enought to give readers a strong visual stimulation;the last sentence“整条腿肿得像根铅柱”is a metaphor,and the word"thick"is added to make the expression more vivid and exaggerated.

CONCLUSION

The theory of postcolonialism takes the elements outside the text into consideration and provokes the study of translation from a macro perspective,which is more conducive to the establishment of a discourse mode of intercultural communication.Culture has never been a simple binary opposite relationship between the East and the West or that between“self”and“otherness”.A symbiotic third space is formed as the East and the West learn from and communicate with each other,with the characteristics of world literature embodied by Can Xue’s works as a typical example.By further exploration of translation strategies ofHut on the Mountain,the paper reveals that the translation by the Sinologist Ronald R.Janssen and the Chinese American scholar Jian Zhang acts as a good channel of decolonization.Translation by means of decolonization is significant to reverse the misunderstanding of Chinese literature in the western world and to treat Chinese society objectively and fairly.Since Can Xue’s works have been widely accepted in the western world,the analysis of their translation is of great enlightenment and reference for the in-depth study of Chinese literature and Chinese culture“going out”.