Cinematic literary translation: the case of A Hero Born

ABSTRACT

Cinematic qualities in novels have been minutely examined. However, cinematic texture in literary translation remains unidentified and unexplored. Employing “cinematic literary translation” supported by the concept of transmediation as a theoretical linchpin, this article analyzes how films influence literary translation epistemologically, aesthetically, and technically. It examines how the cinematic literary translation of Shediao Yingxiong Zhuan (射雕英雄传), a wuxia novel by Jin Yong, is conceptualized, attempted, and achieved by the translator Anna Holmwood. It demonstrates that Holmwood is inspired by the films directed by Tsui Hark and has strategically appropriated various cinematic techniques such as undercranking, fast cutting, zoom-in shot, and extreme long shot in her translation. These transmedial and intersemiotic appropriations not only accelerate the narrative pace of and confer a cinematic texture on the translation, but also reconfigure the otherwise nationalist literary genre into a postmodern cultural commodity geared toward a global readership.

KEYWORDS:

• Jin Yong wuxia
• cinematic literary translation
• cinematic technique
• transmediation
• Anna Holmwood

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank Professor Rachel Lung and Professor Darryl Sterk for valuable comments on earlier drafts of this article. I am also grateful to the three anonymous reviewers whose suggestions have largely ameliorated the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Moses uses “film novel” in the definition.

2 This speech was recorded by Professor Darryl Sterk from Lingnan University. The transcription is by the author. Both Sterk and Holmwood have consented to its use in my research.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hong Diao

Hong Diao is Associate Professor of translation at Sichuan International Studies University in Chongqing, China. He completed his PhD program at Lingnan University of Hong Kong. His research interests include Jin Yong wuxia translation, translation history, and translation theory. His work on Jin Yong wuxia translation has been published in Across Languages and Cultures and Perspectives, among others.