Generic Intertextuality： A Case Study of the English Translations of San Guo Yan Yi

In translation practice, transformation often happens at the linguistic and semantic levels since translation between two different languages inevitably entails changes to a text. This transformation is sometimes one of genre, for example, from novel genre of the original text to drama genre of the translated text. This paper takes the English translations of San Guo Yan Yi, a classic Chinese historical novel originally composed in the fourteenth century, as its case study as some early excerpted versions are in prose, verse, drama, textbook and other genres. Two partial translations are analysed in detail: one that has been retranslated as drama and the other as a collection of fairy tales. The classic interpretation of intertextuality(mosaic relations between texts) is thus extended in this paper to the level of genre where genre traditions play a role in spelling out the connections between texts. Moreover, this research may contribute to our further understanding of the symmetry between Chinese and Western literary traditions in genre.

In translation practice, transformation often happens at the linguistic and semantic levels since translation between two different languages inevitably entails changes to a text. This transformation is sometimes one of genre, for example, from novel genre of the original text to drama genre of the translated text. This paper takes the English translations of San Guo Yan Y/, a classic Chinese historical novel originally composed in the fourteenth century, as its case study as some early excerpted versions are in prose, verse, drama, textbook and other genres. Two partial translations are analysed in detail： one that has been retranslated as drama and the other as a collection of fairy tales. The classic interpretation of intertextuality （mosaic relations between texts） is thus extended in this paper to the level of genre where genre traditions play a role in spelling out the connections between texts. Moreover, this research may contribute to our further understanding of the symmetry between Chinese and Western literary traditions in genre.