Imitation as translation: from Western theories of parody to Japanese postmodern pastiches

ABSTRACT

After critically reviewing the divisions of imitation as proposed by Dryden and Genette, among others, the author discusses the evolution of this concept, from its origins to its latest development in modern England. His aim is to build an objective model for analyzing imitation as a form of translation. He then analyzes a case study from East Asia: Japanese manga imitations of the Chinese novel The Journey to the West, in particular Minekura Kazuya’s 1997–2002 Journey to the Extreme (Gensōmaden Saiyūki). The author seeks to show how the changes made by the manga artists to the plot and characters exemplify ways in which imitations function in a new context. The article ends with some historical reflections on the position of imitation in translation theory and practice, while relating it to the contemporary context. It is hoped that the discussion will contribute to dispelling the misunderstandings and prejudice towards imitation, at the same time encouraging renewed attention to this old concept.

KEYWORDS:

• Imitation
• manga
• parody
• pastiche
• adaptation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributors

Leo Tak-hung Chan is Professor of Translation and Head of the Department of Translation, Lingnan University, Hong Kong. His articles have appeared in Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Translation Studies, Perspectives, Comparative Literature Studies, TTR, The Translator, Babel, META, Across Languages and Cultures, Quaderns: Revista de Traduccio, Journal of Oriental Studies, Linguistica Antverpiensia and Asian Folklore Studies. His major scholarly publications include: Readers, Reading and Reception of Translated Prose Fiction in Chinese: Novel Encounters (St. Jerome, 2010), Twentieth-Century Chinese Translation Theory: Modes, Issues and Debates (John Benjamins, 2004), One into Many: Translation and the Dissemination of Classical Chinese Literature (Rodopi Editions, 2003) and The Discourse on Foxes and Ghosts (University of Hawaii Press, 1998).

Notes

1. Of course, with the Russian Formalists' arrival on the scene with their different notions of defamiliarization, etc., things are no longer the same.

2. Probably the most renowned example at the time of such a kind of traditional imitation is Alexander Pope's mock-epic The Rape of the Lock (1712), where the ‘high’ style of classical texts was deployed in the rendering of a lowly subject.

3. Given recent translation studies scholarship in which faithfulness has been undermined as a central principle, there is little reason why we should not include imitations in theories of translation.

4. For further details of the story, the reader is referred to the following webpages: (1) http://www.answers.com/topic/saiyuki-manga; and (2) http://www.radford.edu/lcubbiso/personal/research/Variations%20on%20the%20Monkey%20King.htm (‘Variations on the Monkey King’).

5. For the many transformations of the Aggregate Monkey in Japan, see the entry on ‘Goku’ at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goku.

6. Another factor that works against valorizing the autonomous text is the collaborative text, as discussed in a spade of articles in several issues of PMLA in 2000.