ELIN PELIN’S SHORT STORY “THE OLD OX” – Nora Chileva

• Author(s): Nora Chileva
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.62635/xq0z-n9w0
• Language: Chinese
• Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Literary Texts, Translation Studies
• Issue: 1/8/2023
• Page Range: 452-459
• No. of Pages: 7
• Keywords: Elin Pelin; The Old Ox (Lao Niu); translation problems
• Summary/Abstract: Elin Pelin, one of Bulgaria’s most prominent authors, has been translated into many languages, including Chinese. This paper adopts the method of close reading of the Chinese text to interpret one of the key works of Elin Pelin, The Old Ox (Lao Niu). In the 1920s it was translated by Mao Dun, who was impressed by the story. In 1980 Foreign Literature Publishing House published the translated version of Chen Wenyuan and Wei Zhendong. It is a given that the translator‘s writing style determines the Chinese readers’ understanding of the original. Mao’s translation is short and anciently beautiful and the one from the 80s is longer and simple in expression. However, neither version accurately expresses the style of the original because none of the translators read Bulgarian; as a result the translated work shows the translator’s writing style rather than the style of the original.
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