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Nature and the Natural: Translating Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” (1807/15) into Chinese

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British Romanticism in Asia

Part of the book series: Asia-Pacific and Literature in English ((APLE))

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Abstract

This chapter explores how Wordsworth’s Romantic concept of nature has been re-interpreted and presented to Chinese audiences through translation. Beginning with a discussion of the Chinese translation of the English word “nature” (ziran 自然), it explores how new and old epistemological frameworks for understanding nature are brought together and coexist in the host language, and consequently affect the Chinese translation of Romantic nature poetry. By analysing selected translations of Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, this chapter analyses how Wordsworth’s nature poetry becomes a site for translators to reconnect with and revalorize traditional Chinese discourses on nature. Through translation, Wordsworth’s idea of solitude is appropriated to underline the social aspect of the indigenous concept of nature as well as the poet’s responsibility to society.

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  1. Department of Modern Languages, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Ting Guo

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  1. Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan

    Alex Watson

  2. Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan

    Laurence Williams

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Guo, T. (2019). Nature and the Natural: Translating Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” (1807/15) into Chinese. In: Watson, A., Williams, L. (eds) British Romanticism in Asia. Asia-Pacific and Literature in English. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3001-8_9

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