Zhang, Menglin
(tätig um 1931-um 1953) : Übersetzer
Subjects
Index of Names : China
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Translator
Chronology Entries (4)
| # | Year | Text | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1931 |
[Lavrin, Janko]. Yibusheng yu Xiao Bona. Zhang Menglin yi [ID D26220]. Lavrin schreibt : "Shaw, being an active 'extrovert', is directed towards external life problems ; the brooding 'introvert' Ibsen, on the other hand, concentrates first of all upon that internal problems of life which can perhaps be solved only upon a supra-logical or religious plane. The whole inner tragedy of Ibsen was due to the fact that, endowed with a profound moral instinct. Devoid of religious consciousness, he was bound to have recourse to purely intellectual solutions, to various philosophical and sociological creed, which led him to scepticism and proved eventually mere illusions, mere 'ghosts' ; for however plausible they be on the plane of logic and reasoning, they were helpless on that plane which is beyond reasoning ; consequently they could not save him from his impasse. Ibsen needed religion as the ultimate justification of his own moral sense, which was strong enough to keep him spell-bound to the end by the uncompromising 'all-or-nothing', and to weigh him down by his continuous feeling of guilt - the feeling of individual responsibility for the evils of all life. It is interesting to compare in this respect the creative methods of Shaw and Ibsen. For apart from the difference which exists between a comedy and a 'serious' drama, there are certain similarities in the inner constitution of Ibsen and Shaw. Both of them are nonconformist in character, which means that they are stimulated by protest and by fighting against the tide ; both are reformers, both are intellectuals, and both write 'plays of ideas' ; that is, they start with some problems or other, which could not be said in plain philosophic terms, and they prefer to solve my means of their art. Kam Kwok-kan : Lavrin gives an illuminating study of Ibsen by constrasting him with Shaw. The latter is often treated as a disciple of the former. But with regard to their temperament, artistic concerns, and psychology, Lavrin shows that there are a number of fundamental differences. Ibsen is a moral idealist and his works are in one sense a representation of the conflicts between his ideals and the reality in which he lived. Lavrin affirms that Ibsen writes from an inner inevitability, which is the chief incentive of his works. His own spiritual fighting and experience, which he tries to embody in his plays, are the real cause. For Lavrin, what makes Ibsen different from his contemporaries, is that he does not have religion as a last resort in his moral struggle. Without such a belief, all evils of life become the responsibility of the individual. Ibsen's uncompromising principle of 'all-or-nothing' is an attempt at seeking the support of religion as 'the ultimate justification of his own moral sense'. Lavrin's remarks were especially useful to Chinese critics and readers alike in the 1930s, who were experiencing a new form of drama different from their own tradition. |
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| 2 | 1933-1997 |
Jack London : Chinese commentaries 1933 [London, Jack]. Shen yuan xia de ren men. Jiake Lundun zhu ; Qiu Yunduo yi. [ID D33499]. Qiu Yunduo describes London as an inspiration to socialism : "Dear readers, if you do not shut the door and your eyes, you would know that the dark side and difficulties of life can be seen everywhere. Rotten metal and rubbish, abyss and hell, these are not unique to the East End of London, but are common to modern society. In the so-called best districts of Shanghai, I see with my own eyes the hell-like miseries depicted in this book ; to tell the truth, reality sometimes is much worse than in the book. The only remaining road is to challenge – and in this lies the meaning of this novel". 1935 [London, Jack]. Lao quan shi. Jiake Lundun zhu ; Zhang Menglin yi. [ID D34489]. Zhang compares London in his introduction to an American Gorky. 1935 [London, Jack]. Ye xing de hu huan. Jiake Lundun zhu ; Liu Dajie, Zhang Menglin yi. [ID D34489]. Liu concludes in the preface "The American people and progressive forces worldwide are fighting agains capitalist reactionaries and warmongers, and London's literary legacy has become the former's powerful weapon." Liu identifies in London a contradiction between his "deep, irreconcilable hate for the capitalist world and passion for class struggles". 1943 [London, Jack]. Mading Yideng. Zhou Xing yi. [ID D34490]. Zhou Xing argues that "London is more than a propagandist, he is an artist well versed in depicting characters too". Zhou pays particular attention to characterization of Martin Eden, asserting that his suicide represents a protest against decadent bourgeois society that envelops him He distinguishes London from Gorky by suggesting "There are those who accept collectivism and thus improve themselves, such as Gorky. There are thos who dither between rationalism and sentimentalism and eventually arrive at their own destruction. Jack London is a case in point". 1952 [London, Jack]. Qiang zhe de li liang. Jieke Lundun ; Xu Tianhong yi. [ID D34497]. According to Xu Tianhong, London's political consciousness remains limited by excessive individualism and avoidance of revolutionary struggle through escape into the pristine simplicities of nature. For Xu, while serious flaws remain even in London's most revolutionary works they expose and denounce international imperialism. 1953 [London, Jack]. Tie ti. Lundun zhu ; Wu Lao, Jin Lu yi. [ID D34500]. Wu Lao tells readers that when London published the novel in 1907 it was widely condemned "but the book is hugely popular among Soviet readers, especially the youth". In the introduction to the 2003 edition Wu Lao and Jin Lu argue that with rapid changes in present-day social structures, the political base of Western communism is shrinking and disappearing. While many workers belong to the working-class in socio-economic terms, psychologically they identify with the middle class. In addition to this shift in the nature of the working class, change can emerge paeacefully in mature democracies. "Even in America, where two capitalist parties rule alternately, such severe class confrontation as depicted in The iron heel that forces revolutionaries to resort to armed uprisings against counter-revolutionary violence is unlikely to occur." Violent anti-government attack would be condemned as terrorism rather than liberation. 1955 [London, Jack]. Mading Yideng. Wu Lao yi. [ID D34496]. Introduction by Wu Lao of the 1981 edition : For Wu Lao, London was a genuine political revolutionary who might have been at the head of an American proletarian movement were it not for his career as a fiction-writer. He reads Martin Eden as a novel of working class self-identity and as an attack on bourgeois individualism energized by London's intellectual epiphany from reading Marx's Communist Manifesto. Yet Wu criticizes London for his vacillation between Marxism and the subversive attractions of Nietzsche's anti-socialist radical individualism. Even though London was caught in this contradiction, according to Wu Lao, his writing remained firmly committed to the working class and was a source of revolutionary confrontation with American capitalism. 1978 [London, Jack]. Mading Yideng. Pan Shaozhong yi. [ID D34491]. In the preface Pan Shaozhong writes while the novel contributes "a penetrating revelation of the evil and ugliness of the bourgeoisie", its social significance remains limited by harmful individualism. 1981 [London, Jack]. Jieke Lundun duan pian xiao shuo xuan. Wan Zi, Yu Ning yi. [ID D34493]. Wan Zi and Yu Ning appreciated London's critique of capitalism and colonialism while pointing to his 'shortcomings' and 'erroneous attitude of white supremacism', they were the first translators in nearly a half-century to discuss his racism. 1985 [London, Jack]. Re ai sheng ming. Jieke Lundun zhu ; Wan Zi, Yu Ning yi. [ID D34498]. Wan Zi and Yu Ning : "Many of London's best works expost and criticize the darkness of capitalist society, decry the colonial exploitation of imperialism, and sing praise for the audacity of revolutionaries". 1988 Li, Shuyan. Jieke Lundun yan jiu. Li Shuyan xuan bian [ID D34600]. Li Shuyan dismisses London as 'no great thinker', one influenced by pseudo-science as well as science, narrow-minded patriotism as well as internationalism, and by white supremacy. "Quite a few ideas in his works would turn out to be wrong. Some were confused and simplistic even at his time". 1994 [London, Jack]. Jieke Lundun duan pian xiao shuo xuan. Jiang Jiansong yi. [ID D34494]. Jiang notes the racist themes of London's writing and attributes political contradictions to his 'eclectic reading'. Jiang distances himself from the selection contained in this collection of short stories with a caution that "We may not agree with ideologies reflected in certain works". 1995 [London, Jack]. Yi kuai niu pai : Jieke Lundon zhong duan pian xiao shuo jing xuan. Jieke Lundon zhu ; Yu Bin, Wen Hong bian. [ID D34502]. [Enthält] : London, Jack. A piece of steak. The enthusiastic indtroduction of Yu Bin and Wen Hong suggests that the reading public and critics were re-evaluating London to appreciate him more for narrative aesthetics, less as a propagandist. They too respond to the internationalism of London's writing : "Jack London is called a Red writer and he would call himself a socialist on account of the fact that he supported social revolution and hoped that the class into which he was born could lead a better life. What is more praiseworthy is that London also wrote stories such as The Mexican that commended socialist revolution and supported weak nations seeking independence. Stories on such topics have had huge influence on the under-class in America's readers, on the working class, and on readers in other countries who either belong to the working class or sympathize with social revolutions." 1996 [London, Jack]. Jieke Lundun zhong duan pian xiao shuo jing xuan = Selected novelettes and short stories of Jack London. Jieke Lundun Zhu ; Lu Weimin yi [ID D34495]. Lu Weimin's afterword to a collection of stories argues "London's masterpiece Martin Eden and his political dystopian novel The iron heel both demonstrate certain proletarian characteristics. The former is penetrating in criticizing the decadence and emptiness of capitalist society, whereas the latter, besides denouncing the oligarchy of American capitalists, specifically opposes opportunism in workers' movements and is thus the first American literary work of proletarian character." 1996 [London, Jack]. Mading Yideng. Jieke Lundun zhu ; Zhang Xumei, Xi Qingming deng yi. [ID D34492]. Zhang and Xu states that the novel "directly challenges the values of the bourgeoisie and has exposed the hypocrisy and decadence of the upper class", forming a dramatic contrast with conemporary "smiling faces" novels. For such critics, London represents a political cutting edge that can renew a lacking spirit in recent fiction. 1997 [London, Jack]. Re ai sheng ming. Jieke Lundun zhu ; Hu Chunlan yi. [ID D34488]. Hu Chunlan suggests that contemporary Chinese readers can benefit from more balanced political appreciation of London : "During the McCarthy era when the Cold War mentality prevailed, views on Jack London's works once served as a benchmark dividing literary critics into leftists and rightists. Until this day America's mainstream critics still hold a lower evalutation of London than he deserves. But Chinese readers do not have to undervalue London's achievements on this account, nor do we have to ideologize overly Jack London and his works." |
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| 3 | 1936 |
[O'Neill, Eugene]. Qi yi de cha qu. Wang Shiwei yi [ID D28718]. Zhang Menglin writes in the preface that one of the constant themes in Eugene O'Neill's plays is the conflict between a man's inner and outer selves, and that tragedy occurs when the protagonist becomes aware of the conflict, acts to resolve it, and realizes in the end his inability to do so. |
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| 4 | 2013 |
Zhang, Menglin. [On the 100th anniversary of Mark Twain's birth]. [ID D29539]. Zhang made Twain out to be a writer with a double character : although his works contain quite respectable satire, he himself was a despicable sort of man : "His fiery satire was born of postbellum American society as well as his personal character and spirit. On the one hand he so skillfully and caustically lampooned society, in his personal life he was as timid as a mouse, henpecked and scrupulously observant of the rules of propriety. If Twain has been born in China, his behavior would certain.ly have been looked down upon, and this scorn would have sounded the death-knell for is works." |
Bibliography (8)
| # | Year | Bibliographical Data | Type / Abbreviation | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1931 |
[Lavrin, Janko]. Yibusheng yu Xiao Bona. Zhang Menglin yi. In : Xian dai xue sheng ; vol. 1, no 8-9 (1931). Übersetzung von Lavrin, Janko. Ibsen and Shaw. In : Lavrin, Janko. Studies in European literature. (London : Constable, 1929). 易卜生與蕭伯納 |
Publication / Ibs62 | |
| 2 | 1934 |
[Twain, Mark]. You mo xiao shuo ji. Make Tuwen [et al.] zhu ; Zhang Menglin [et al.] yi. (Shanghai : Zhonghua shu ju, 1934). (Wen yi hui kan). [Übersetzung von Twain's humoristischen Erzählungen]. 幽默小說集 |
Publication / Twa269 | |
| 3 | 1934 |
[Hawthorne, Nathaniel]. Hong zi. Zhang Menglin yi. (Shanghai : Zhong hua, 1934). Übersetzung von Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The scarlet letter. (Boston : Ticknor, Reed and Fields ; London : Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1850). 紅字 |
Publication / HawN72 | |
| 4 | 1935 |
Zhang, Menglin. Make Tuwen dan sheng bai ni an ji nian. In : Xin zhong hua ; vol. 3, no 7 (1935). [On the 100th anniversary of Mark Twain's birth]. 馬克吐温誕生百年紀念 |
Publication / Twa183 | |
| 5 | 1935 |
[London, Jack]. Lao quan shi. Jiake Lundun zhu ; Zhang Menglin yi. (Shanghai : Zhong hua shu ju, 1935). (Xin zhong hua con shu. Wen yi hui kan ; 1. Min guo tu shu ji cui). Übersetzung von London, Jack. A piece of steak & other stories. In : London, Jack. When God laughs & other stories. (New York, N.Y. : Macmillan, 1911). 老拳師 |
Publication / Lond9 | |
| 6 | 1941 |
[Twain, Mark]. Hua jia zhi si. Make Tuwen zhu ; Zhang Menglin yi. (Shanghai : Zhong liu shu dian, 1941). [Übersetzung von Short stories von Twain]. 畫家之死 |
Publication / Twa83 | |
| 7 | 1948 |
[Poe, Edgar Allen]. Huang liang tao. Zhang Menglin [et al.] yi. (Shanghai : Zhong hua shu ju, 1948). (Zhong hua shao nian cong shu). [Übersetzung von Short stories von Poe]. 荒涼島 |
Publication / Poe54 | |
| 8 | 1953 |
Meiguo ming zhu duan pian xiao shuo xuan. Wu Guangjian, Zhang Menglin, Xu Weinan, Huang Yuan, Hu Zhongchi. (Xianggang : Wen yuan shu dian, 1953). (Wen yuan shi jie duan pian ming zhu yi cong). [Enthält Übersetzungen von Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ernest Hemingway, O Henry, John Steinbeck, Mark Twain]. 美国名著短篇小说选 |
Publication / Twa37 |