ABSTRACT
During the Cold War, both the Eastern and Western blocs turned book publication, especially translation of literature of the third world, into a battlefield, through which they redefined the value of world literature under the guidance of their respective ideological norms. This chapter examines the translation of “Li Sao” 離騷 (Encountering Sorrow) from Chu Ci 楚辭 (Verses of Chu), one of the masterpieces in classical Chinese literature, by the Eastern and Western blocs to tease out the dynamics and complications of the translation process in the war of ideas. Russian poet Anna Akhmatova’s (1889–1966) translation of “Li Sao” in 1954 and British sinologist David Hawkes’s (1923–2009) translation in 1959 have enjoyed tremendous popularity in the English and Russian-speaking world. These two translations were products of the Second World War and the subsequent Cold War, without which a great amount of Chinese literature, especially classical Chinese literature, would not have been circulated worldwide. Moreover, modern Chinese intellectuals Guo Moruo 郭沫若 (1892–1978) and Wen Yiduo 聞一多 (1899–1946) also directly or indirectly participated in the translation of this Chinese canon. By exploring the function of patrons in different cultures—UNESCO, Russian, and Chinese politicians and cultural departments—in the translation of “Li Sao,” this paper interrogates individual translators’ struggles with nationalism and solidarity and reveals the blurring boundary between translators and patrons.
