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Translation and Interpretation of Two Tujia Folk Songs: Plucking Stalks and Door to Door in the Same Street

Received: 30 September 2021    Accepted: 11 November 2021    Published: 23 November 2021
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Abstract

Enshi, a region where Tujia nationality have lived for generations, has bred rich ethnic cultural resources. As the main form of Tujia people’s expressing their emotion and recording the changes of the times, folk songs perform a remarkable social and entertainment function in Tujia people’s daily life. This article explores the translation and interpretation of Enshi Tujia folk songs “Plucking Stalks” and “Door to Door in the Same Street”. Translations of the two folk songs are guided by Susan Basnett’s cultural translation theory with some translation strategies flexibly employed. Then, respective interpretation from a cultural perspective is presented. Love relationships between young men and women in the two songs are gradually revealed. Both songs extol that young men and women should fall in love at their most beautiful age. Furthermore, the interpretation of the first song offers us a window into the division of labour between men and women in traditional Chinese society, and the functions of lining words appearing in the second song are also carefully analyzed. At last, challenges and countermeasures in the translation process are discussed. This study of Tujia folk songs gives expression to the living status and language habits of Tujia people, and is expected to facilitate the understanding of the spiritual and cultural pursuits of Tujia nationality.

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 9, Issue 6)

This article belongs to the Special Issue Translation and Interpretation of 28 Chinese Tujia Minority Ballads

DOI 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.17
Page(s) 297-304
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Tujia Nationality, Folk Songs, Lining Words

References
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[2] Levinson, S. (2014). Image and Symbol. Images of the objective world, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 420.
[3] Hasanov, E. L. (2016). Innovative basis of research of technologic features of some craftsmanship traditions of Ganja (On the sample of carpets of XIX century), International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 11 (14): pp. 6704–6714.
[4] Tleuova, A. Z., Baltymova, M. R., Niyazova, G. M., & Tektigul, Z. O. (2016). The World of Fantasy and the Trends in Modern Kazakh Fantastic Literature, IEJME-Mathematics Education, 11 (06): pp. 1591–1605.
[5] Abdrakhman, G. (2012). Modern song creativity in Kazakh musical culture: Abstract of the thesis of a candidate, pp. 28.
[6] Kokumbaeva, B. D. (2012). Tengrian art culturology, pp. 167.
[7] Zeng Zheng, (2015). Analysis on Cultural and Fitness Value of Tujia Waving Dance, International Conference on Education Technology and Economic Management (ICETEM), (00): pp. 80-86.
[8] Wang Hongyin, (2014). Chinese Folk Songs and Their English Translation. The Commercial Press, BeiJing.
[9] Gou Bin, (2009). “Subject Orientation of Folk Songs Translation, the History, Status and Strategy”, JiaoXiang - Journal of Xian Conservatory of Music, 28 (04): pp. 68.
[10] Du Zhengming, (2008). Understanding Translation Skills. China Economic Publishing Hose, Beijing. pp. 129-135.
[11] Wang Yanxing, (2005). The Current Situation and the Development of Chinese Folk Songs from the Prospective of Communication, Journal of Jimei University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 8 (03): pp. 89-92.
[12] Rui Yan, (2009). On the Inheritance and Evolution of Chinese Folk Songs from the perspective of Communication Studies, Movie Literature, (12): pp. 107-108.
[13] Li Cheng, (2002). E/C Translation of Song Lyrics, Chinese Translators Journal, 23 (02): pp. 31-34.
[14] Nida, Eugene A, Taber, Charles R. (2004). The Theory and Practice of Translation. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, Shanghai.
[15] You Cuiyun & Sun Zhiguo, (2012). Modal Particles with Soul-An analysis of the lyrics of “Dragon Boat Song”. Journal of Xianning University, 32 (08): pp. 69-71.
[16] Ou Qiuyun, (2017). Folk Culture Translation on the Wave of Culture Going Globally— With Translating Lyric of Hubei Folk Songs as Example. Journal of Hubei University of Education, 34 (11): pp. 123.
[17] Hong Xu, (2018). A Study of Translation and Dissemination of Tujia Folk Songs in Western Hubei Province. International Conference on Humanities and Advanced Education Technology, (03), pp. 385-386.
[18] Nida, Eugene A. (2001). Language and Culture: Context in Translation, Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, Shanghai.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Wei Ying, Chen Kaiju. (2021). Translation and Interpretation of Two Tujia Folk Songs: Plucking Stalks and Door to Door in the Same Street. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 9(6), 297-304. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.17

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    ACS Style

    Wei Ying; Chen Kaiju. Translation and Interpretation of Two Tujia Folk Songs: Plucking Stalks and Door to Door in the Same Street. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2021, 9(6), 297-304. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.17

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    AMA Style

    Wei Ying, Chen Kaiju. Translation and Interpretation of Two Tujia Folk Songs: Plucking Stalks and Door to Door in the Same Street. Int J Lit Arts. 2021;9(6):297-304. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.17

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.17,
      author = {Wei Ying and Chen Kaiju},
      title = {Translation and Interpretation of Two Tujia Folk Songs: Plucking Stalks and Door to Door in the Same Street},
      journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
      volume = {9},
      number = {6},
      pages = {297-304},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.17},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20210906.17},
      abstract = {Enshi, a region where Tujia nationality have lived for generations, has bred rich ethnic cultural resources. As the main form of Tujia people’s expressing their emotion and recording the changes of the times, folk songs perform a remarkable social and entertainment function in Tujia people’s daily life. This article explores the translation and interpretation of Enshi Tujia folk songs “Plucking Stalks” and “Door to Door in the Same Street”. Translations of the two folk songs are guided by Susan Basnett’s cultural translation theory with some translation strategies flexibly employed. Then, respective interpretation from a cultural perspective is presented. Love relationships between young men and women in the two songs are gradually revealed. Both songs extol that young men and women should fall in love at their most beautiful age. Furthermore, the interpretation of the first song offers us a window into the division of labour between men and women in traditional Chinese society, and the functions of lining words appearing in the second song are also carefully analyzed. At last, challenges and countermeasures in the translation process are discussed. This study of Tujia folk songs gives expression to the living status and language habits of Tujia people, and is expected to facilitate the understanding of the spiritual and cultural pursuits of Tujia nationality.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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    AU  - Wei Ying
    AU  - Chen Kaiju
    Y1  - 2021/11/23
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.17
    T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
    JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
    JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.17
    AB  - Enshi, a region where Tujia nationality have lived for generations, has bred rich ethnic cultural resources. As the main form of Tujia people’s expressing their emotion and recording the changes of the times, folk songs perform a remarkable social and entertainment function in Tujia people’s daily life. This article explores the translation and interpretation of Enshi Tujia folk songs “Plucking Stalks” and “Door to Door in the Same Street”. Translations of the two folk songs are guided by Susan Basnett’s cultural translation theory with some translation strategies flexibly employed. Then, respective interpretation from a cultural perspective is presented. Love relationships between young men and women in the two songs are gradually revealed. Both songs extol that young men and women should fall in love at their most beautiful age. Furthermore, the interpretation of the first song offers us a window into the division of labour between men and women in traditional Chinese society, and the functions of lining words appearing in the second song are also carefully analyzed. At last, challenges and countermeasures in the translation process are discussed. This study of Tujia folk songs gives expression to the living status and language habits of Tujia people, and is expected to facilitate the understanding of the spiritual and cultural pursuits of Tujia nationality.
    VL  - 9
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Author Information
  • Business English Study, International Business English School, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China

  • 2Center of Business Culture and Philosophy of Culture, Institute of Hermeneutics, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China

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