Linguistica applicata 24/10/08 The Transparent Eye: Reflections on

Linguistica
applicata
24/10/08
The
Transparent
Eye:
Reflections
on
Translation,
Chinese
Literature,
and
Comparative
Poetics
–
Eugene
Chen
Eoyang
La
storia
delle
religioni
è
inestricabilmente
legata
alla
storia
delle
traduzioni.
Cao
Zhi
–
“Il
poema
dei
sette
passi”
Boil
Bean
to
make
a
soup.
Add
pulse‐plants
to
the
potpourri.
Under
the
pot,
Stalk
feeds
the
fire;
Inside
the
pot,
Bean
weeps
with
worry.
“Once
we
grew
from
the
self‐same
root,
I’m
cooked
now
–
what’s
your
hurry?”1
1
Bernard
Lewis:
difficoltà
di
tradurre
la
poesia
d’amore
persiana:
lett.
‘my
liver
is
broiled
like
a
kebab’
Nida:
ingiunzione
biblica
“Devil,
get
thee
behind
me!”
Trad.
impossibile
in
quechua
(Bolivia)
Richards,
‘Mencius
in
the
Mind’:
“Chinese
thimking
often
gives
no
attention
to
distinctions
which
for
Western
minds
are
so
traditional
and
so
firmly
established
in
thought
and
language
that
we
neither
question
them
nor
even
become
aware
of
the
mas
distinctions.
We
receive
and
use
them
as
thug
they
belonged
unconditionally
to
the
constitution
of
things
(or
thought).
We
forget
that
these
distinctions
have
been
made
and
maintained
as
part
of
one
tradition
of
thinking;
and
that
another
tradition
of
thinking
might
neither
find
use
for
them
nor…be
able
to
admit
them”
‘cuore’
e
‘mente’

cin.
xin
‘anima’

cin.
po
‘corporea’
hun
Du
Fu
‘Sognando
Li
Bai’
(periodo
Tang):
Old
friend,
you
appeared
in
a
dream.
It
shows
you
have
long
been
in
my
thoughts.
Perhaps
it
was
not
your
living
soul:
The
way’s
too
far,
it
couldn’t
be
done.
Concetto
di
‘vuoto’
in
occidente
valore
negativo
cin.
xukong
‘vuoto’
wu
‘nulla’
Tao
Te
Ching:
“Thirty
spokes
converge
on
the
hub
of
a
wheel:
it
is
on
nothingness
(wu)
that
the
function
of
the
cart
depends.
Clay
may
be
molded
into
a
vessel:
it
is
on
nothingness
that
the
function
of
the
vessel
depends.
Doors
and
windows
are
made
to
form
a
room:
it
is
on
nothingness
that
the
function
of
the
room
depends”
Han‐shan:
I
enjoy
the
way
of
my
everyday
life
Among
the
misty
vines
and
the
rocky
caves.
Thoughts
in
the
wild
are
so
much
freer.
Longtime
companions:
the
drifting
clouds.
There
are
roads,
but
they
lead
nowhere.
Nothing
on
my
mind,
who
van
disturb
me?
On
a
bed
of
stone,
I
sit
alone
at
night
As
the
round
moon
climbs
up
Cold
Mountain.
Omissione
del
soggetto
Xin
Qiji:
“To
the
Tune:
‘In
Search
of
Fragrant
Grasses’
There
are
so
many
tears
‐
‐
I’m
at
loose
ends,
among
so
many
quilt
covers;
The
pillows
aren’t
right,
no
matter
where
they’re
put.
Good
old
times,
how
can
I
sleep?
Still
no
letter?
How
can
I
bear
the
geese
mocking
me?
They
say
there’s
no
news,
yet
there’s
a
letter’s
meaning
–
Row
upon
row:
one
word
after
another”
(lett.
‘formation
several:
‘man’,
man’
words’)
onomatopea
The
forms
of
onomatopoeia
Do
not
agree
from
land
to
land.
In
Oshkosh,
Hollywood,
and
Nutley
The
sound
of
breaking
plates
is
‘crash!’;
In
Helsinki,
it
changes
subtly
To
‘kratsu!’
suggesting
scratch
and
gnash;
A
tingletangle
‘kling!’
is
Denmark’s;
In
Rome,
a
raucous
‘patatrac!’;
In
China,
a
cartoonist’s
pen
marks
‘Hua‐la‐la!’
for
cracking
crock.
In
Portugal,
when
platters
shatter
And
scatter
all
about
a
room,
They
smack
of
elephantine
clatter
Or
bongo
drums:
‘catrapuz‐boom!’
In
Budapest,
extremist
factions,
Surmounting
politics,
concur
That
dishes
fracture
into
fractions
With
double
sibilants:
‘chir‐churr!’
Parole
di
origine
straniera:
zhu
nomi
di
origine
indiana
shi
termini
buddhisti
Il
modo
di
tradurre
testi
occidentali
è
diverso
in
Cina
e
in
Giappone:
in
giapponese
creazione
di
una
lingua
specifica,
‘straniera’;
in
cinese
stile
arcaico,
nobilitante