Rewriting, ideology, and poetics in Goldblatttt’s translation of Mo Yan’s (The Garlic Ballads)

Abstract

In their article “Rewriting, Ideology, and Poetics in Goldblatt’s Translation of Mo Yan’s (The Garlic Ballads)” Ping Du and Lili Zhang analyse Howard Goldblatt’s translation of the novel in order to explore literary “rewriting” in translation. Du and Zhang posit that Goldblatt’s translation reflects ideology in concealing, discarding, rewriting, and even losing some part in his translation. Further, they argue that the translation of the novel has been performed based on specific aspects of poetics including the musical charm of Chinese ballads and their unique cultural images.