The Scholar-beauty Novel Yu Jiao Li and the Early Translation of Chinese Poetry : competing Practices and Discourses

The Yu jiao li 玉嬌梨, a notable example of 17th century scholar-beauty novel (caizi jiaren xiaoshuo 才子佳人小說), is peppered with poems that often serve a crucial function in the progression of the narrative. In translating the novel, which he published in 1826 as Iu-kiao-li, ou, Les deux cousines, Jean Pierre Abel-Rémusat was among the first sinologists to tackle and discuss the peculiarities and challenges of translating Chinese poetry. To explore early discourses and practices in poetry translation in 19th-century European sinology, this paper first examines Abel-Rémusat’s painstaking and troubled approach through a micro-analysis of his translation of the poem “Yingyan 迎燕” (“Le salut à l’hirondelle”) taken from the 10th chapter of the Yu jiao li; it then compares this with that of his pupil, Stanislas Julien, who published a retranslation of the novel in 1864. The French approach is ultimately compared and put in relationship with coeval discussions regarding the translation of Chinese poetry in the Anglophone world. By examining a thin yet significant web of methodological remarks embedded in paratextual commentaries on various translated works, the article illuminates the nascent phases of European debate on translating Chinese poetry, where the Anglo-French competition finds a new arena of dispute. In addition, it underscores the previously neglected importance of the Yu jiao li as an early repository of Chinese poetry in Europe, prompting further research on the subject.