Questions for 8/9 -- EN 190 Summer II 2012

After Yuehshan's presentation on manga, I wanted to show you some of the scrolls from The Tale of Genji, a novel from the 1000s.  Above is just one!

Good evening :)

It looks like we may not get a chance to see every single presentation.  Thursday I would like to hold the presentations in the first half of the class.  During the second half you will have time to work on your exam.  People who are not able to present may send me their PowerPoints.

Here are the readings we went over in class tonight:

Let's start with Petrarch:

A.S. Kline's translation of Sonnet 3 is here, together with Petrarch's original and the MP3 of Moro Silo reading it:

http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/canzoniere.html?poem=3

Mark Musa's translation is here:

http://thepoetryplace.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/renaissance-sonnets-for-the-beloved/

Next we looked at Sonnet 140.  Again, we will start with Kline's translation and the original:

http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/canzoniere.html?poem=140

The literal translation by Patrick Cruttwell is below:

http://www.sonnets.org/petrarch.htm

See this link for the version by Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542):

http://www.sonnets.org/wyatt.htm#002

The translation by Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823-1911) is actually of Sonnet 294.  Again, we'll start with Kline's translation and the original:

http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/canzoniere.html?poem=294

Higginson's version is here:

http://www.sonnets.org/petrarch.htm#010

We'll finish with A.M. Juster (1956-).

http://www.amjuster.com/poem14.html

http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/canzoniere.html?poem=14

On to Li Bai's "Drinking Alone With the Moon."

We'll start with Ezra Pound's translation:

http://poetry.about.com/od/poemsbytitled/l/bllipodrinkingalone.htm

Note that he did not know Chinese although he popularized Chinese poetry and used it as a predecessor to modern poetry.

Then we'll move on to linguist Arthur Waley's version:

http://people.zeelandnet.nl/henklensen/libai-waley.htm

Stephen Owen's translation is more recent:

http://people.zeelandnet.nl/henklensen/libai-owen.htm

Vikram Seth's translation was the last we looked at:

http://people.zeelandnet.nl/henklensen/libai-seth.htm

But I would like to include another by Xu Yuanchong:

http://people.zeelandnet.nl/henklensen/libai-xu.htm

The last version will not be on the test, but I think that you may enjoy reading it, too.

Have you had a chance to look at the study guides on Multiply?

Finally, here are a few questions for your journal:

-- Compare two or more translations of the same poet's work.  Which do you prefer?  Why?  How does each work as a translation?  How does each translation work as poetry?

-- Take a look at one of the translations in our book.  How is the poem different from other poems, especially English-language ones, that we've looked at?  What is poetic about this poem?  Why?  What doesn't seem poetic to you?

-- Take a look at a translation that the poet him/herself was involved with.  Does that seem to make a difference?  Why?  Why not?

-- Compare one of La Fontaine's fables that Joel discussed to Godfather Death.  Here are the relevant links:

http://www.bonjourlafrance.com/french_literature/jean_de_la_fontaine_fables/grasshopper_ant_cigale_fourmi.htm

http://www.aestheticrealism.net/poetry/Wolf-Lamb-LaFontaine.htm

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm044.html

--  What do translated poems add to our study of poetry?  Our study of literature?  Why?

-- How do you define poetry?  Does it matter that this genre is so hard to define?  Why?  Why not?

-- How do you define literature?  Feel free to talk about what is not literature (film, graphic novels, etc.).

-- How have the presentations helped you to understand literature?

-- How does literature seem to change from culture to culture?

Watch MyMC for the PowerPoint presentations!

Dr. Szlyk