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Jobs' love letter sparks contest
By Han Jing |
December 5, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE biography of Apple Inc's supremo Steve Jobs included a love letter he wrote to his wife. It was written 20 years after they married.
The letter was one of the highlights of the book among Chinese readers after the Chinese version was released.
The sincere and simple letter offered readers a glimpse of the emotional side of Jobs, who was known to be extremely secretive about his private life while still alive.
In addition to the official translation of the letter in the Chinese version of Jobs' autobiography, many amateur translators were keen to contribute their own entries on the Internet.
Shanghai Daily initiated a translation competition via microblog two days after the Chinese copy hit the market on October 24, mirroring an Internet campaign to perfect the Chinese version. Six contestants stood out among 73 participants. They were chosen after two rounds of strict selections lasting a month.
Hu Xingwen, a translator of global communications at Shanghai International Studies University, was awarded first prize.
"The honor is an utter surprise," Hu said when given the award by Zhang Ciyun, editor-in-chief of Shanghai Daily and one of the four final judges of the competition on Wednesday.
The contestants poured their enthusiasm into the translations, said Huang Yuning, one of the contest's final judges and director of the literary editing department of Shanghai Translation Publishing House.
She also said the rhetorical and ornamental language adopted by quite a few contestants was not appropriate in this case as the original letter was quite colloquial.
He Gangqiang, the final judge and dean of the translation department of College of Foreign Languages and Literature at Fudan University, said that translators should adhere to the original "modest, concise and bright" style.
He said, "The first prize winner did the best in overall arrangement, wording and phrasing and most importantly, respected Jobs' style."
Li Fang, the second prize winner and a translator of science books, said the competition presented a good opportunity for her to display a precise and unadorned translation style.
Shanghai Daily's Zhang suggested translators take into account the life and educational background of Jobs.
"The original letter was not written in Shakespeare style or in Internet language," Zhang said. "The letter simply conveyed Jobs' deep affection for his wife without losing literary grace. Keeping the style consistent throughout is essential in a translation."
"The difference between English and Chinese is also a matter of different cultures and traditions," he added.
The original text:
We didn't know much about each other 20 years ago. We were guided by our intuition; you swept me off my feet. It was snowing when we got married at the Ahwahnee. Years passed, kids came, good times, hard times, but never bad times. Our love and respect has endured and grown. We've been through so much together and here we are right back where we started 20 years ago - older and wiser - with wrinkles on our faces and hearts. We now know many of life's joys, sufferings, secrets and wonders and we're still here together. My feet have never returned to the ground.
The First Prize winning work:
20骞村墠铏界浉鐭ヤ笉澶氾紝浣嗗績鏈夌伒鐘锛屼綘璁╂垜涓轰箣鍊惧掋傚厷涓嶅濠氬Щ娈垮爞锛岄樋鐡﹀凹闆姳椋炶垶锛屼技涓烘垜浠簡绁濄傝浆鐪奸棿锛岀敓鍎挎坊濂筹紝鏈夎嫤鏈変箰锛屼絾鏃犳ㄦ棤鎮斻傚钩鏃ョ浉鏁瀹撅紝鎴戜滑鐨勭埍鏃ヤ箙寮ユ柊銆備竴鍒囦箣鍚庯紝閲嶆俯20骞村墠鏁呭湴锛岃櫧婊¤劯鐨辩汗锛屽績鍘嗘钵妗戯紝浣嗕綘鎴戦兘鏇翠负鎴愮啛鐫挎櫤銆傚浠婂凡鐒舵槑鐧戒簡鐢熸椿涓殑鑻︿箰銆佺湡璋涗笌濂囧锛屾垜浠緷鐒剁浉婵′互娌紝鎼烘墜鍚岃銆傛垜涔熶竴鐩存极姝ュ湪鐖辩殑浜戠锛屼笉鎯冲潬钀藉皹瀵般
锛園涓滄柟绁為獜HXW锛
Judges Have Their Say
Zhang Ciyun
Editor-in-chief of Shanghai Daily
The translator dealt with the three parallel 'times' in the letter in a clever way, especially the tricky 'bad times' by highlighting its connotation.
Huang Yuning
Director of the literary editing department of Shanghai Translation Publishing House, writer and literary translator
The translator fully understands the original letter and adopts a proper natural style. The overall quality is slightly superior to other works.
Mao Jian
Famous writer and columnist
The translator is adept at using simple language without any unnecessary words while retaining the correct meaning.
He Gangqiang
Dean of the translation department of College of Foreign Languages and Literature at Fudan University
The translator embodies the modest, concise and bright original style and also did a good job with several specific phrases.
The letter was one of the highlights of the book among Chinese readers after the Chinese version was released.
The sincere and simple letter offered readers a glimpse of the emotional side of Jobs, who was known to be extremely secretive about his private life while still alive.
In addition to the official translation of the letter in the Chinese version of Jobs' autobiography, many amateur translators were keen to contribute their own entries on the Internet.
Shanghai Daily initiated a translation competition via microblog two days after the Chinese copy hit the market on October 24, mirroring an Internet campaign to perfect the Chinese version. Six contestants stood out among 73 participants. They were chosen after two rounds of strict selections lasting a month.
Hu Xingwen, a translator of global communications at Shanghai International Studies University, was awarded first prize.
"The honor is an utter surprise," Hu said when given the award by Zhang Ciyun, editor-in-chief of Shanghai Daily and one of the four final judges of the competition on Wednesday.
The contestants poured their enthusiasm into the translations, said Huang Yuning, one of the contest's final judges and director of the literary editing department of Shanghai Translation Publishing House.
She also said the rhetorical and ornamental language adopted by quite a few contestants was not appropriate in this case as the original letter was quite colloquial.
He Gangqiang, the final judge and dean of the translation department of College of Foreign Languages and Literature at Fudan University, said that translators should adhere to the original "modest, concise and bright" style.
He said, "The first prize winner did the best in overall arrangement, wording and phrasing and most importantly, respected Jobs' style."
Li Fang, the second prize winner and a translator of science books, said the competition presented a good opportunity for her to display a precise and unadorned translation style.
Shanghai Daily's Zhang suggested translators take into account the life and educational background of Jobs.
"The original letter was not written in Shakespeare style or in Internet language," Zhang said. "The letter simply conveyed Jobs' deep affection for his wife without losing literary grace. Keeping the style consistent throughout is essential in a translation."
"The difference between English and Chinese is also a matter of different cultures and traditions," he added.
The original text:
We didn't know much about each other 20 years ago. We were guided by our intuition; you swept me off my feet. It was snowing when we got married at the Ahwahnee. Years passed, kids came, good times, hard times, but never bad times. Our love and respect has endured and grown. We've been through so much together and here we are right back where we started 20 years ago - older and wiser - with wrinkles on our faces and hearts. We now know many of life's joys, sufferings, secrets and wonders and we're still here together. My feet have never returned to the ground.
The First Prize winning work:
20骞村墠铏界浉鐭ヤ笉澶氾紝浣嗗績鏈夌伒鐘锛屼綘璁╂垜涓轰箣鍊惧掋傚厷涓嶅濠氬Щ娈垮爞锛岄樋鐡﹀凹闆姳椋炶垶锛屼技涓烘垜浠簡绁濄傝浆鐪奸棿锛岀敓鍎挎坊濂筹紝鏈夎嫤鏈変箰锛屼絾鏃犳ㄦ棤鎮斻傚钩鏃ョ浉鏁瀹撅紝鎴戜滑鐨勭埍鏃ヤ箙寮ユ柊銆備竴鍒囦箣鍚庯紝閲嶆俯20骞村墠鏁呭湴锛岃櫧婊¤劯鐨辩汗锛屽績鍘嗘钵妗戯紝浣嗕綘鎴戦兘鏇翠负鎴愮啛鐫挎櫤銆傚浠婂凡鐒舵槑鐧戒簡鐢熸椿涓殑鑻︿箰銆佺湡璋涗笌濂囧锛屾垜浠緷鐒剁浉婵′互娌紝鎼烘墜鍚岃銆傛垜涔熶竴鐩存极姝ュ湪鐖辩殑浜戠锛屼笉鎯冲潬钀藉皹瀵般
锛園涓滄柟绁為獜HXW锛
Judges Have Their Say
Zhang Ciyun
Editor-in-chief of Shanghai Daily
The translator dealt with the three parallel 'times' in the letter in a clever way, especially the tricky 'bad times' by highlighting its connotation.
Huang Yuning
Director of the literary editing department of Shanghai Translation Publishing House, writer and literary translator
The translator fully understands the original letter and adopts a proper natural style. The overall quality is slightly superior to other works.
Mao Jian
Famous writer and columnist
The translator is adept at using simple language without any unnecessary words while retaining the correct meaning.
He Gangqiang
Dean of the translation department of College of Foreign Languages and Literature at Fudan University
The translator embodies the modest, concise and bright original style and also did a good job with several specific phrases.
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