‘If I have wander’d in those paths’ : The reception of Robert Burns in China

Li, Suping (2024) ‘If I have wander’d in those paths’ : The reception of Robert Burns in China. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This research represents the first extensive critical study of the relationship between Robert Burns, arguably the most renowned Scottish poet, and China. It examines the spectrum of Robert Burns’s reception in translation, criticism, music and Burns Night celebrations in China for over a century since Burns was initially mentioned in 1877 in the diary of Liu Xihong (d.1891), an ambassador of the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912). In 1908, Burns’s ‘A red red Rose’ was translated by Su Manshu (1884-1918) as the earliest rendition in China and it was continually translated throughout the 1920s, contributing to Burns’s reputation as a love and lyric poet before 1937. Since the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, for Burns’s Scottish identity in response to the need of fighting against Japanese aggression, Burns was shaped as a patriotic Scottish poet and a representative of the literature of ethnic minorities. In 1959, Burns’s reputation as ‘a great people’s poet’ reached its zenith for a consequence of his perceived peasant birth aligned with the political ideological demand of the New Folksong Movement (1958-9), and the celebration of the 200th anniversary of his birth. The subsequent Cultural Revolution (1966-76) disrupted the publication of commentaries and translations of Burns’s works. Since the policy of reform and opening up in 1978, the ideological tint in Burns’s reception began to diminish, marking a revaluation stage that spans approximately fifty years of comprehensive scholarship from the late 1970s to the present day. In this context, this thesis specifically scrutinizes the translation strategies of Wang Zuoliang, an influential Burns scholar and translator in China, including the comparisons between his various translated versions, and his translations with those of other translators. Furthermore, this thesis examines Burns’s appeal beyond text in mainland China and by the Chinese diaspora, not least through the celebration of Burns Night and Burns’s music. This thesis ultimately argues that the political ideology and Chinese traditional Confucianism have attributed to the trajectory of Burns translations and reception in China.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > Scottish Literature
• Supervisor's Name: Pittock, Professor Murray and Mackay, Dr. Pauline
• Date of Award: 2024
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2024-84707
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 18 Nov 2024 16:33
• Last Modified: 19 Nov 2024 09:13
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.84707
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/84707