What can intralingual translation do?

The first intralingual workshop in the field of translation was held in 2014 at Bogazici University in Istanbul. The first scholarly gathering of its kind, it gained the attention of translation scholars across nations. Despite differences and diverse points of view among its participants, the conference was both provocative and productive.

Intralingual translation or rewriting, according to Roman Jakobson, is an interpretation of verbal signs by means of other signs of the same languages. (Jakobson, 1959:233) Thus, translation, together with interlingual translation and inter-semiotic translation, has formed a semiotic system which can interpret all human activities and productions, however noble or humble, static or dynamic.

What can intralingual translation do?

The first is its referential function. Zijian Yang found that in translating Chinese classics into foreign languages, intralingual translation can be used as a reference for the translators, even for sinologists who are in a process of translating Chinese classics into foreign languages. In this translation process, a phase of intralingual translation is added, i.e. its original text can be classic Chinese and its translated text can be modern English, in-between is intralingual translation in modern Chinese. (Yang Zijian, 2005:62)

It is true that many Chinese classics, e.g. Lao Zi,(《老子》) or The Book of Changes(《易經》), have their intralingual translations far before their contemporary interlingual translations. A translator can take, in this case, the advantage of previous intralingual translations as a remedy for his interpretation of classic Chinese texts. It is not a shame for a translator in so doing; instead, this process indicates expertise, sincerity, and responsibility.

Munday argues that intralingual translation is used to achieve an easier reading for children. (Munday, 2009:201) The Short Stories of Shakespeare in UK is just an example. In China The San Tzu Ching (《三字經》) is an elementary guide to knowledge for children. Parents and primary teachers ask pupils to learn and recite the texts, which are difficult even for adults. As a result, intralingual translation is provided for kids to have a better understanding of the source texts.

The second function is the case of adaptation. Teachers can make use of the simplified or paraphrased version for teaching in class, a kind of practice which would otherwise be done in a senior stage.

The third function of intralingual translation, proposed by Xuanmin Luo at the Bogacizi conference in 2014, is the function of shaping a nation’s modernity, which is “a structural concept dealing with the transformation of whole societies, ideologies, social structure and culture. Modernity confirms the promise of scientific reason to unmask irrational forces and point to the way to necessary social change.” (Alan Swingewood,1998:140) Besides other functions, intralingual translation was used for constructing a nation’s vernacular. This is especially true when a nation is weak and backward. Taking China as an example, the intralingual translation was used for the construction of modern vernacular. The source texts in this case can be a classic text, or text in dialect which, for its peculiar pronunciation and expressions, was only easily understood by its local neighborhood.

A good sample is Bangqing Han’s Sing-song Girls of Shanghai. The novel, completed at the end of the 19^th century, was a book of legendary, which inquiries into the moral and psychological consequences of desire. The novel had been neglected by the major scholars for a couple of decades until it was discovered by Lu Xun (魯迅) and Hu Shi(胡適). It was Eileen Chang (張愛玲） who turned this novel in Wu dialect into modern Chinese vernacular, with different book titles as The Flowers in Blossom and The Fall of the Flowers. Based on her intralingual translation Eileen Chang later translated this book into English which was unearthed among her papers at the University of Southern California, where she moved to from Shanghai since 1956. Eva Hung (孔慧怡） later revised Eileen Chang’s translation with an introduction and had it published by Columbia University Press. A few years later, the novel was developed into a film which was directed by Hou Xiaoxian (侯孝賢）, a famous director from Taiwan. A legendary story in dialects has finally been developed into the legendary world of intralingual, interlingual and inter-semiotic translations. What a miracle!

Unlike translation proper, intralingual translation is a rewriting or paraphrasing within the same language system. However, it is not a mere linguistic transfer. Sharing the same function as interlingual translation, its performances can be ideological and historical. It has been used and practiced in the construction of Chinese “Baihua” (modern vernacular) and promoted China’s new literary movement in the early 20^th century.