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ABSTRACT
Translation of psychoanalytic texts is notoriously complex, amplified by differences between Western languages/cultures and China. Freud labelled translation “traitorous”. A current challenge is the trend among some professional translators to diminish or eliminate hierarchies of accurate and inaccurate translations. We argue for accurate translation to transmit psychoanalytic concepts in Mandarin Chinese. The English Standard Edition involved unfortunate choices to “Latinize” key Freudian terms; for example, Es, Ich and Überich were rendered as Id, Ego and Supergo, instead of more experience-near common language equivalents in English, “it, I and over I.” Similarly, some recent translations of German and English psychoanalytic terms into Mandarin Chinese have also tended to perpetuate intellectualized distancing from Freud's original vivid words. Here, we focus on seven critical terms for core psychoanalytic concepts: Ich/I, Es/it, Überich/superego, Transference (Übertragung), Countertransference (Gegenübertragung), Psyche/Soul (Psyche/Seele), psychoanalysis and (surprisingly) schizophrenia. We suggest that the currently popular oral-aural translations from English into Mandarin perpetuate distancing and lead to mis-translations that obscure our foundational concepts. We propose alternative Mandarin translations for some terms and discuss the broader cultural challenges involved in transmitting the heart (and soul) of psychoanalysis with Chinese colleagues.
Est bien connu combien la traduction de textes psychanalytiques est complexe, amplifiée par les différences entre langues et cultures occidentales et celles de la Chine. Freud (Freud, S. Freud, S. 1905. Jokes and their Relationship to the Unconscious. SE 8: 6, 34. Jokes and their Relationship to the Unconscious. SE 8: 6, 34.) a qualifié le processus de traduction comme «traître». Un défi naissant est la tendance de certaines traductions professionnelles à diminuer, voire à éliminer, les hiérarchies de traductions précises et inexactes (Park, Alter). Notre article défends l’importance de traductions précises pour transmettre les concepts psychanalytiques en chinois mandarin. La “English Standard Edition” a pris la décision regrettable de « latiniser » certains termes clés freudiens: par exemple, Es, Ich et Überich ont été rendus comme Id, Ego et Supergo, au lieu de leurs équivalents en langage ordinaire et plus proche du vécu anglais – « It, I and over I. » De même, certaines traductions récentes de termes psychanalytiques allemands et anglais en chinois mandarin ont également eu tendance à perpétuer une distanciation intellectualisée des mots expressifs d’origine de Freud. Ici, nous nous concentrons sur sept mots clés qui incarnent des concepts psychanalytiques de base: «Ich/I, Es/it, Überich/superego, Transference (Übertragung), Countertransference (Gegenübertragung), Psyche/Soul (Psyche/Seele), psychanalyse » et (étonnamment) « schizophrenia ». Nous suggérerons que les traductions orales-écrites actuellement populaires de l’anglais vers le mandarin renforcent cette distanciation et mènent à des erreurs de traduction qui obscurcissent nos concepts fondamentaux. Nous proposons des traductions alternatives en mandarin pour certains de ces termes et discutons des défis culturels plus larges qui sont impliqués dans la transmission du cœur même (et de l’âme) de la psychanalyse à des collègues chinois.
Psychoanalytische Texte zu übersetzen ist bekanntlich kompliziert, was durch die Unterschiede zwischen den Sprachen und Kulturen der westlichen Welt und Chinas noch verstärkt wird. Freud (Freud, S. 1905. Jokes and their Relationship to the Unconscious. SE 8: 6, 34.) bezeichnete den Übersetzungsprozess als “verräterisch”. Eine aktuellere Herausforderung ist der Trend in einigen Fachübersetzungen, Hierarchien genauer und ungenauer Übersetzungen abzuschwächen oder sogar vollständig zu beseitigen (Park, Alter). Unser Beitrag argumentiert, wie wichtig eine genaue Übersetzung für die Übertragung psychoanalytischer Konzepte ins Hochchinesische (Mandarin) ist. Für die englischsprachige Standardausgabe wurde die unglückliche Entscheidung getroffen, einige freudianische Schlüsselbegriffe zu “latinisieren”: Beispielsweise wurden’ Es, Ich, und Überich zu id, ego und superego, anstatt die allgemeinsprachlichen, erfahrungsnäheren englischsprachigen Entsprechungen “It, I und over I” zu wählen. Ebenso neigten einige aktuelle Übersetzungen deutsch- und englischsprachiger psychoanalytischer Begriffe ins Hochchinesische dazu, eine intellektualisierende Verfremdung von Freuds im Original lebendigen Worten fortbestehen zu lassen. In diesem Beitrag konzentrieren wir uns auf sieben maßgebliche Begriffe, die Kernkonzepte der Psychoanalyse zum Ausdruck bringen: Ich/I, Es/it, Überich/superego, Übertragung (transference), Gegenübertragung (countertransference), Psyche/Seele (psyche/soul), Psychoanalyse und (erstaunlicherweise) Schizophrenie. Wir weisen darauf hin, dass die aktuell beliebten mündlichen Übersetzungen zum Hören aus dem Englischen ins Hochchinesische diese Verfremdung verstärken und zu Fehlübersetzungen führen, die unsere grundlegenden Konzepte unklar werden lassen. Wir schlagen alternative Übersetzungen für einige dieser Begriffe vor und diskutieren die umfassenden kulturellen Herausforderungen, vor denen wir stehen, wenn wir das Herzstück (und die Seele) der Psychoanalyse für die chinesischen Kollegen übertragen wollen.
La traduzione di testi psicoanalitici rappresenta già di per sé un lavoro notoriamente complesso, ma le difficoltà che esso comporta risultano persino amplificate dalle differenze tra le lingue e le culture occidentali da una parte e quelle cinesi dall’altra. Freud (Freud, S. 1905. Jokes and their Relationship to the Unconscious. SE 8: 6, 34.) ha parlato del processo della traduzione come di un processo “traditore”. Un tipo di difficoltà emerso più di recente consiste nel trend, in alcune traduzioni fatte da professionisti, di diminuire o perfino eliminare la gerarchia tra traduzioni accurate e inaccurate (Park, Alter). Il presente articolo sostiene l’importanza delle traduzioni accurate ai fini della trasmissione dei concetti psicoanalitici nella lingua del cinese mandarino. Ai tempi in cui venne realizzata la Standard Edition inglese fu presa l’infelice decisione di “latinizzare” alcuni termini freudiani fondamentali: ad esempio, Es, Ich e Überich vennero resi con Id, Ego e Superego anziché con i corrispettivi assai più “experience-near” della lingua inglese di tutti i giorni – “it, I e over-I”. Analogamente, alcune recenti traduzioni di termini psicoanalitici tedeschi e inglesi in cinese mandarino hanno mostrato una certa tendenza a perpetuare un distanziamento intellettualizzante rispetto alla freschezza delle parole originali di Freud. Ci concentreremo qui su sette termini chiave che incarnano altrettanti concetti psicoanalitici fondamentali: Ich/I, Es/it, Überich/superego, Transference/transfert (Übertragung), Countertransference (Gegenübertragung), Psyche/Soul (Psyche/Seele), psicoanalisi e (sorprendentemente) schizofrenia. Dopo aver suggerito che le traduzioni orali-aurali dall’inglese al cinese oggi assai diffuse contribuiscono ulteriormente a questo distanziamento, causando addirittura errori di traduzione che rendono oscuri i concetti base della nostra disciplina, proporremo delle traduzioni alternative in mandarino per alcuni di questi termini e discuteremo inoltre le sfide che (in senso culturale più ampio) occorre affrontare per trasmettere il cuore (e l’anima) della psicoanalisi ai colleghi cinesi.
La traducción de textos psicoanalíticos es notoriamente compleja, amplificada por las diferencias entre las lenguas y culturas occidentales y las de China. Freud (Freud, S. 1905. Jokes and their Relationship to the Unconscious. SE 8: 6, 34.) llamó “traicionero” al proceso de traducción. Un desafío más reciente es la tendencia en algunas traducciones profesionales a disminuir, o incluso eliminar, las jerarquías entre traducciones precisas e imprecisas (Park, Alter). Este artículo argumenta a favor de la importancia de una traducción precisa en la transmisión de conceptos psicoanalíticos en chino mandarín. La English Standard Edition conllevó la desafortunada decisión de latinizar algunos términos freudianos clave: por ejemplo, Es, Ich y Uberich, quedaron como Id, Ego y Superego, en vez de sus equivalentes en inglés más cercanos a la experiencia coloquial: “it, I [y] over I”. De igual manera, algunas traducciones recientes de términos psicoanalíticos alemanes e ingleses a chino mandarín también han tendido a perpetuar una distancia intelectualizada de las palabras vívidas originales de Freud. Este artículo se concentra en siete términos decisivos [en alemán y en inglés] que representan conceptos psicoanalíticos fundamentales: Ich/I, Es/it, Überich/superego, Transference (Übertragung), Countertransference (Gegenübertragung), Psyche/Soul (Psyche/Seele), psychoanalysis y (sorprendentemente) schizophrenia. Se sugiere que las actuales traducciones populares orales o auditivas del inglés al mandarín refuerzan este distanciamiento y conducen a traducciones erróneas que oscurecen los conceptos fundacionales del psicoanálisis. Se propone traducciones alternativas en mandarín para algunos de estos términos y se analizan desafíos culturales más amplios, implicados en la transmisión del corazón (y el alma) del psicoanálisis a los colegas y las colegas de China.
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Notes
1 New analytic terms often share a quality of being elusive, abstract, experience-far. The noun “Other” carries some mystical greater meaning than “other”; “field theory” alludes to the nineteenth-century discovery of electromagnetic fields working at a distance.
2 “Why translation deserves scrutiny”, October 23, 2018. New York Review of Books.
3 Possibly excepting child play therapy. Even here, as Winnicott shows in The Piggle, much of his work is putting into words the child’s play demonstrations (Szajnberg Citation2017).
4 Alter gives generous credit to his many teachers and colleagues who helped with translations.
5 He documents well the multiple authors, revisions and eras in which the Bible was written.
6 Recall here Botticelli’s Venus, being born of the froth of the sea’s waves, a sea inseminated by her father.
7 This reminds us of the notorious mistranslation of Isaiah’s prophecy (7:14) that the moshiach, the saviour (in Bible this is generally a military title), will be born by a “primigravida”, almah in Hebrew, that is a woman who is having her first pregnancy. In the Gospels, this is severely mistranslated as “virgin”, parthenos, in Greek.
8 The “beloved mother tongue” (Freud Citation1915, 278), which Freud compared with his “own skin” (quoted in Grubrich-Simitis Citation1986), gave his scientific prose the character that was so peculiar to it.
9 “You will probably object to our having chosen simple pronouns to denote our two institutions, or provinces, of the soul, instead of introducing for them sonorous Greek names. In psychoanalysis, however, we like to keep in contact with the popular mode of thinking and prefer to make its concepts scientifically serviceable rather than to discard them. There is no special merit in this; we must proceed in this way because our teachings ought to be comprehensible to our patients, who are often very intelligent, but not always learned” (Freud Citation1926, 222).
10 One reviewer points out the subtleness of the Mandarin for red, hong2. It consists of two characters, the first translating as “silk”, the second symbolizing blood, a representation of power.
11 “The Chinese language is full of instances of indefiniteness which might fill us with alarm” Sigmund Freud (Citation1916, 230).
12 We modify Freud’s statement: there is grammar in Mandarin, but it is quite different from German grammar.
13 We understand from one of our reviewers that since the Chin dynasty, only the Emperor can be Number 1.
14 One could argue that shi zu could be used as a signifier to encompass a wider and more abstract conceptualization than the Mandarin common parlance and concrete terms for penis. However, linguistically, “phallus” is much closer to “penis” in English than “shi zu” is to “penis” in Mandarin.
15 Although schizophrenia may not be a contemporary psychoanalytic concept, it remains a major diagnosis in psychiatry, all the more reason for us to know that in some translations the characters for “Psychoanalysis” and “Schizophrenia” are the same.
16 We will not have time here for further discussion, but mention four terms with accurate Chinese translations:
Love 爱 ai1; Hate 恨 hen4; Indifference 冷漠 leng3 mo4; Ambivalence 矛盾 mao2 dun4. The Mandarin term for ambivalence is particularly apt: it includes pictograms of an all-powerful spear meeting an impenetrable shield.
17 We refer to translations that are oral-aural (not written). As Plaenkers (Citation2013) points out, in the written translations there is a plethora of differing Mandarin translations for psychoanalytic terms (usually from the English translations of Strachey).
18 Superman is translated as chao ren. Therefore, most Chinese would “hear” chao wo as like super-I. Also, the Superego fits into the Confucian idea of personality structure: there is an ideal self that we look towards and try to reach, but is beyond us. The latter definition might better fit Ego Ideal rather than Superego, at least as the Ego Ideal has been differentiated from the Superego in Freud’s later writings.
19 Plaenkers notes that the use of ta 它 to translate Das Es was previously selected by Shen Zhi Zhong and Wang Wen Ji in their Mandarin translation of the Vocabulaire de la psychanalyse by Laplanche and Pontalis. Plaenkers’ concern was that adoption of their translation would create a “Chinese Laplanchian” (Plaenkers, Citation2013, 94). In contrast, we respectfully submit that this Mandarin character best reflects the original sense of Freud’s term, not simply a Laplanchian interpretation of it.
20 We leave aside the debate in psychoanalysis involving the theoretical suggestions of the Kohutian or self-psychology school.
21 We are aware that Freud used “Übertragung” differently in the history of his writings. Early on, in Chapter 7 of “The interpretation of dreams”, Freud writes:
We learn … that an unconscious idea is as such quite incapable of entering the preconscious and that it can only exercise any effect there by establishing a connection with an idea which already belongs to the preconscious, by transferring its intensity on to it and by getting itself “covered” by it. Here we have the fact of “transference”.
22 The authors’ suggestion for a preposition would be a correction from “of” to “towards”.
23 “But the greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor. It … cannot be learnt from others; it is the mark of genius … [it] implies an intuitive perception of the similarity in dissimilars” (Aristotle Citation[1947] 1973).
24 “the predominant transference paradigm may be conceived as a ‘personal myth’ which condenses conflicts from various stages of development, when total object relations and intersystem conflicts in the transference prevail, the genetic link between the nature of the transference and the antecedent childhood experience” (164–1655).
25 We thank Zvi Lothane for his assistance with the German occurrences of Seele in Freud’s writings.
26 Note that the Hebrew word, nishima, “breath”, is a cognate with neshama, “spirit”. In one of the two Genesis creation stories, God breathes into Adam’s nostrils to animate him. There may be something about the sense of a living soul and breath that has a “collective” unconscious connection at least with Hebrew and Greek and, as we will see, Mandarin, a form of cultural wisdom. Nefesh is the Hebrew translation of “Seele”/Soul. Nefesh also refers to the throat and also to a living person. “Reason” in Hebrew is yeda.
27 We use Bettelheim’s term “soul” because it is closer to Freud’s term, rather than “mind”, and certainly not brain. We are aware that some with a Catholic background might consider the Soul as a more religious construct than Freud used it.
28 You can almost hear that it is almost a homonym for the German, Suchen, to search (although the “P” is pronounced in the Viennese or German “Psyche”).
29 While different languages also simply have different rules/habits about which syllables are accented, one could have translated Psychoanalyse as Psychoanalysis, emphasizing the same first syllable for accuracy. We recall Strachey’s explanation that he consciously translated Freud’s German into terms that would be more appealing to an English-speaking audience.
30 The Mandarin xin li can be translated as “heart” or “mind”; “soul” in the religiousvsense in mainland China is ling2 hun2灵魂, while in Hong Kong “soul” is simply ling2灵. We thank Fay Cheng for this.
31 We use the ambiguous “them” in order to keep the information confidential.