Abstract
Based on Jiang Rong’s semi-autobiographical novel of the same title, Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Wolf Totem is an ecological rewrite. To better understand and evaluate the rewrite, this chapter adopts a comparative approach and argues that Annaud’s rewrite works as a trans-national and trans-cultural bridge in contemporary ecological discussion. It has impressive visual and audio effects and has done pioneering work in translating Chinese ecological and cultural ethics and aesthetics to the global audience. Yet, the translation is not perfect. It neglects the social and cultural backgrounds and fails to harmonize the eastern and western perspectives in the understanding of ecological issues. With both gain and loss, Annaud’s rewrite proves that the multicultural strategies are needed in contemporary ecological studies, especially trans-national and trans-cultural studies.
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Notes
- 1.
Ren Shanshan, “Faguo daoyan Jean-Jacques Annaud tan dianying langtuteng: zhe shi yibu paigei quanshijie de dianying.”
- 2.
Qin Wan, “Jean-Jacques Annaud: changshuo Zhongguo hao, pengyou juede wozai daguanggao.”
- 3.
Ren, “Faguo daoyan Jean-Jacques Annaud tan dianying langtuteng: zhe shi yibu paigei quanshijie de dianying.”
- 4.
Ma Sheng-mei, “Sino-Anglo-Euro Wolf Fan(g)s from Jiang Rong to Annaud,” 87.
- 5.
Jian Rong, “Q&A: ‘Unlike the Wolf, Sheep Are Afraid of Freedom.”
- 6.
Jerry Varsava, “Jiang Rong’s Wolf Totem: Toward a Narrative Ecology of the Grassland of Contemporary Inner Mongolia,” 286.
- 7.
Wolfgang Kubin, “Deguo hanxue quanwei lingyizhiyan kan xiandangdai Zhongguo wenxue.”
- 8.
Qin, “Jean-Jacques Annaud: changshuo Zhongguo hao, pengyou juede wozai daguanggao.”
- 9.
Ma, “Sino-Anglo-Euro Wolf Fan(g)s from Jiang Rong to Annaud,” 83.
- 10.
Jean-Jacques Annaud, “Shanghai Film Fest: Q&A with Director Jean-Jacques Annaud.”
- 11.
Ibid.
- 12.
Tang Yuankai, “Wolf Totem: Another Dances with Wolves,” 69.
- 13.
Ma, “Sino-Anglo-Euro Wolf Fan(g)s from Jiang Rong to Annaud,” 92.
- 14.
Jiang Rong, “Q. and A.: Jiang Rong on ‘Wolf Totem,’ the Novel and Now the Film.”
- 15.
Wu Jingming, Shengtai piping shiye zhong de ershi shiji Zhongguo wenxue, 394–399.
- 16.
He Chengzhou, “The Wolf Myth and Chinese Environmental Sentimentalism in Wolf Totem,” 787.
- 17.
Jiang, “Q. and A.: Jiang Rong on ‘Wolf Totem,’ the Novel and Now the Film.”
- 18.
Michael Martina, “French ‘Wolf Totem’ Director Says China Censors Gave Him ‘Carte Blanche.’”
- 19.
“Wolf Totem (2015) Box office Mojo.”
- 20.
Qi Shanshan, “Kua wenhua beijing xia jiyu wenxue gaibian de shengtai dianying piping—yi dianying langtuteng weili.”
- 21.
Stephen Schaefer, “‘Wolf Totem’ Leads Pack with Poetic Beauty.”
- 22.
James Kendrick, “Wolf Totem.”
- 23.
Dennis Schwartz, “Warns Us That an Old-Fashioned Way of Life is Passing to an Encroaching Civilization.”
- 24.
Jiang, “Q. and A.: Jiang Rong on ‘Wolf Totem,’ the Novel and Now the Film.”
- 25.
Laura Zhou, “Wolf Totem: Writer Blasts Hit Film over ‘Fake’ Mongolian Culture.”
- 26.
Peter Keough, “In ‘Wolf Totem’ it’s the call of the mild.”
- 27.
Maggie Lee, “Berlin Film Review: Wolf Totem.”
- 28.
Hu Zhihong and Hu Tiantian, “The Integration of Ecocriticism and Comparative Literature—A Win-Win Academic Strategy,” 105.
- 29.
Katie Walsh, “Movie Review: Gorgeous ‘Wolf Totem’ Includes Lesson That Still Ring True.”
- 30.
Jiang, “Q. and A.: Jiang Rong on ‘Wolf Totem,’ the Novel and Now the Film.”
- 31.
He, “The Wolf Myth and Chinese Environmental Sentimentalism in Wolf Totem,” 789.
- 32.
Li Xiaojiang, Wolf Totem and the Post-Mao Utopian: A Chinese Perspective on Contemporary Western Scholarship, 75–76.
- 33.
Jiang, “Q. and A.: Jiang Rong on ‘Wolf Totem,’ the Novel and Now the Film.”
- 34.
Jiang, Wolf Totem: A Novel, 62–63.
- 35.
Jiang, “Q. and A.: Jiang Rong on ‘Wolf Totem,’ the Novel and Now the Film.”
- 36.
Ibid.
- 37.
Jiang, Wolf Totem: A Novel, 470.
- 38.
Judith Shapiro, Mao’s War against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China, 1.
- 39.
Qin, “Jean-Jacques Annaud: changshuo Zhongguo hao, pengyou juede wozai daguanggao.”
- 40.
Ibid, 341.
- 41.
Ibid, 508.
- 42.
Jiang, “Q. and A.: Jiang Rong on ‘Wolf Totem,’ the Novel and Now the Film.”
- 43.
Hu and Hu, “The Integration of Ecocriticism and Comparative Literature—A Win-Win Academic Strategy,” 105.
- 44.
It has to be pointed out that in the original novel, Jiang Rong uses “it” to refer to the wolf cub. Yet, in the English translation, Howard Goldblastt changes “it” into “he” to show the wolf cub’s importance. This chapter chooses to use “it” in the hope of being faithful to the original novel.
- 45.
Jiang, Wolf Totem: A Novel, 496–497.
- 46.
Ibid, 497.
- 47.
Ibid, 499.
- 48.
Ibid, 503.
- 49.
Jiang, “Q. and A.: Jiang Rong on ‘Wolf Totem,’ the Novel and Now the Film.”
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Zhai, R. (2019). From Jiang Rong to Jean-Jacques Annaud: An Ecological Rewrite of Wolf Totem. In: Chang, Cj. (eds) Chinese Environmental Humanities. Chinese Literature and Culture in the World. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18634-0_5
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