Paper

TRA6015 Readings in Translation

CHEUNG Lai-luk

Changing Role of the Translator & LOTR

A Descriptive Study of the Changing Role of the Translator Through Lucifer Chu’s Translation of The Lord of the Rings

TRA6015 Readings in Translation Prof. Tung Yuan Fang

CHEUNG Lai Luk 張禮六 (S01007760)

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TRA6015 Readings in Translation

CHEUNG Lai-luk

Changing Role of the Translator & LOTR

The Chinese University of Hong Kong April 27, 2003

Table of Contents

A. Abstract........................................................................................................4 B. Introduction..................................................................................................4 C. About The Lord of the Rings........................................................................5 D. Difficulties and Pitfalls for the Translator.....................................................6 E. Different Versions of Chinese Translations..................................................6 F. The Atypical Translator Lucifer Chu.............................................................8 2/18

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G. Success Factors of Chu’s Translation.........................................................9 H. The Changing Role of the Translator.........................................................15 I. Conclusion..................................................................................................16 J. Reference...................................................................................................17

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A. Abstract This paper is aimed at describing the changing role of postmodern translators through the phenomenal success of Lucifer Chu’s Chinese translation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic work of fantasy literature, The Lord of the Rings, among three other Chinese versions, all published within a short period of three years from 1998 to 2001.

B. Introduction Being one the two oldest professions on earth, translators have found their identities and focus shifting over the centuries, from intermediaries in ancient barter trades, to missionaries and decipherers of the Holy Scriptures and Buddhist Sutra, to promoters of cultural exchange through translated works of literature and other genres. Now more than ever, they find themselves assuming roles other than mere men (and women) of letters . The school of translators at Toledo (13 century) achieved their status as learned men rather than as translators (Newmark, 1998), whereas to succeed in the modern world, translators may need to turn themselves into businessmen and marketing executives. Also, Newmark’s (1993) advice for translators that “in principle, the translator should be invisible” seems no longer a rule of thumb in today’s media-oriented world. To achieve greater success, the new generation of prominent translators employ wit, in addition to words, and get themselves involved in publishing and marketing promotion, matters that were traditionally outside a translator’s working perimeters. This paper presents a descriptive study of the changing role of the translator, by going through the atypically successful story of Lucifer Chu（朱學恆） and his re-translation of Tolkien’s highly acclaimed classic, The Lord of the Rings. We shall begin by giving a brief overview of the novel, its publishing history and its acclaimed status in the Western world over the past years. Then the different Chinese versions will be listed out with some background information. Next we shall enter into our main discussion by focusing on Lucifer Chu, who took unconventional steps to approach Linking Publishing Company in Taiwan and initiated to re-translate the lengthy novel. By analyzing the extraordinary success of this new Chinese version which will likely sell over 100,000 sets, we shall explore the changing role and critical success factors of translators as well as of their works in today’s world.

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C. About The Lord of the Rings "It's a book that crosses the magic line between childhood and adulthood." As Malcolm Bradbury, Professor Emeritus of American Literature at the University of East Anglia, rightly points out in the above statement (Alberge and Wagner, 1997), the triumph of The Lord of the Rings is well justified, though many ‘expert scholars’ like Germaine Greer and Auberon Waugh have openly questioned the novel’s worthiness as a great work of literature. A poll held in the U.K. by the chain bookstore, Waterstone, in 1996, and repeated many times since, named The Lord of the Rings the “Book of the Century”, i.e. the top in the list of the hundred most-read and best-loved books of the 20th century. It is a well-founded result confirmed by sales figures and bestseller charts over the years. Written by J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973), philologist and Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University, The Lord of the Rings was published between 1954 and 1955. It was a grandiose ‘sequel’ to The Hobbit, the author’s first novella (when compared with the enormous work of three thick volumes in The Lord of the Rings) about Middle Earth and its different kinds of bizarre inhabitants besides men: hobbits, elves, wizards, dwarves, orcs and more. The lengthy novel, being an instant big hit in the U.K., was quickly translated in other European languages, Dutch being the first. Its success across Europe was unstoppable. The novel’s first paperback version (pirated by Ace Publishers) was launched in the U.S. in 1965, immediately creating a fad across campuses left and right. Reading groups and fan clubs burgeoned in no time. Since then, generations of people in the West have grown up under the influence of The Lord of the Rings. The world of Middle Earth is a tapestry of unlimited boundaries meticulously weaved in a period of 16 years by Tolkien, to include every possible detail of everything mentioned in the story, which has a backdrop spanning over thousands of years, from the different aliases of some ancient king, to the history of the swords and horses of each warrior, and even to the particulars of different pipe-weeds (tobacco). It is a whole creation, complete in its own geography (including topography and maps), history, invented languages, and niceties of everyday life. This can be reflected in the exceptionally voluminous Appendices and Indices section which covers almost one third of the last volume, providing a overwhelming amount of background information and cross-references for the zealous and diligent reader. According to Pearce (1998), this epic written by Tolkien, a devoted Catholic, has three central themes bound together, connecting the essential nature of man's mortality with the importance of free will and the intrinsic conflict between good and evil. Despite the complicated backdrop, intertwining characters, and twists and turns that make up the huge volume, the underlying story is 5/18

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simple. It is about the quest imposed on, and willingly taken up, by Frodo, the ring bearer, together with other characters in the fellowship, to destroy the evil ring and save the Middle Earth. As Galadriel, the elf queen, puts it, "Even the smallest person can change the course of the world".

D. Difficulties and Pitfalls for the Translator Apart from the novel’s sheer volume and complexity, challenges posed to anyone attempting to translate The Lord of the Rings mainly stem from the philological aspect of the novel. In a letter to the Houghton Mifflin Co., Tolkien himself declared that “the invention of languages is the foundation. The ‘stories’ were rather made to provide a world for the languages than the reverse. I should have preferred to write in ‘Elvish’”. The philological and mythological background of Tolkien’s fictional works is one of the major pitfalls for Chinese translators lacking of sufficient understanding of the complicated linguistic and cultural backdrop against which Tolkien’s fantasy novels are placed. Tolkien created the Middle Earth sagas primarily as a pseudo-historic setting for his invented languages, and as a “Mythology for England.” Adding to this is the fact that the genre “fantasy literature” （魔幻小說）, which was firmly established through Tolkien’s Middle Earth sagas, is rather new and foreign to eastern readers and translators. Modern Chinese literature has no fantasy literature tradition as such. Children's literature has a few translations of Western fantasy stories. Computer games are about the only area exploring fantasy worlds. The Chinese tradition closest to fantasy literature in the West may be kung-fu or knight-errand novels（武俠小說）, and the popularity of that genre among the Chinese is indeed reminiscent of the enduring popularity that Tolkien’s fiction has enjoyed in the West over the four decades since The Lord of the Rings was published (Van der Peet, 2000).

E. Different Versions of Chinese Translations

Although the original The Lord of the Rings novels were published in the ‘50s in the U.K. and landed in the U.S. in 1965, gaining widespread popularity and scoring a huge success on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, their Chinese translations only came into being decades later in 1998. Two Chinese versions were published individually in this year, one by Linking Publishing Company （聯經出版社） who owned the Chinese publishing rights to the novels, and the other by Variety Publishing Company（萬象出版社）, who openly launched a pirated version (Van der Peet, 2000). Variety’s version of the Lord of the Rings called《魔戒之主》系列 is made up of 15 pocket-sized 6/18

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volumes, including two volumes of 《霍比特歷險記》 (the Hobbit), with cover design, illustrations, and layout similar to that of Japanese comics books. The whole series was translated by a translator called 海舟。 Linking’s version comprises six volumes, matching with the six books defined in the original novel. Therefore each of the three parts consists of two volumes, and was tackled by different translators, reportedly from mainland China. The first two books were translated by a team of three translators, thus the whole translation project involved five translators in total. This may have adversely affected the quality of translation, as Van der Peet (2000) puts it, “It remains a mystery how unity of style and the overall narrative pattern and smoothness of the story are to be retained if so many different people work on the translation of one book, probably even without reading the parts they did not have to translate. No editor can probably make up for the breaks and irregularities that will occur in the design of a story if many different people, probably working under tight deadlines, translate parts of one single story that are then deliberately put together. At least, no such editor was available for the 聯經 edition of The Lord of the Rings.” These first two Chinese versions were not well received. Linking’s version sold less than 1000 sets. Then in 2001, two new Chinese versions emerged, jumping on the bandwagon of the worldwide hype generated by the mega movie project of The Lord of the Rings. One was a simplified Chinese version published by Nanjian Yiling Press in three volumes, each translated by a different translator, but the overall output was checked by a single proofreader. The other new Chinese version was from Taiwan Linking. In less than two years, Linking commissioned Lucifer Chu to re-translate Tolkien’s Middle Earth sagas: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and created the first millionaire-translator. Discussion and comparison between the different translated versions in this paper mainly focus on the three Taiwanese versions. The following table summarizes the different Chinese versions published in mainland China and Taiwan: Original Title (1954/55）

The Fellowship of the Ring

The Two Towers

The Return of the King

Taiwan Variety

《魔戒同盟》1─4 集

《雙塔記》1─5 集

《國王歸來》1─4 集

台灣萬象（1998）

海舟譯

海舟譯

海舟譯

Taiwan Linking

《魔戒團》

《雙塔記》

《國王歸來》

台灣聯經（1998）

張儷、鄭大民、

吳洪譯

楊心意譯

魔戒 I－VI 本

張建平譯

《魔戒之主》系列

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Taiwan Linking

《魔戒現身》

《雙城奇謀》

《王者再臨》

台灣聯經（2001）

朱學恆譯

朱學恆譯

朱學恆譯

PRC Yilin

《魔戒再現》

《雙塔奇兵》

《王者無敵》

大陸譯林（2001）

丁棣譯，郭少波校訂

姚錦鎔譯，郭少波校訂

湯定九譯，郭少波校訂

魔戒首、二、三部曲

魔戒第一、二、三部

F. The Atypical Translator Lucifer Chu Thanks to Lucifer Chu （朱學恆）, who has taken an atypical path to become a translator, Chinese readers are given a second chance to enjoy and appreciate J.R.R. Tolkien's canon of literature. Chu comes from a scientific background, with a degree in electrical engineering from Taiwan’s National Central University. Being a dedicated fan of computer games since the age of eight, playing as long as ten hours straight a time, Chu has unconsciously equipped himself with the philological basics relevant to the translation of The Lord of the Ring, because many of the games that he has been playing either partially originated or were adapted from it. Then Chu started reading the novel and realized it really was the beginning of all the legends. When Chu was an 18-year-old high-school student, he was already working as a columnist for a computer magazine called Software World (《軟體世界》) introducing new English-language fantasy/adventure games. It was Chu’s vast experience in playing and writing about the games that helped him visualize the fantasy world in The Lord of the Rings, and lent him a systematic translation for the terminology. When other translators failed to properly name or vividly portray an elf or an orc, Chu has already got the imagery as well as visual depiction of what elves and orcs would look like in his mind for years. Starting in 1997, Chu began translating various books from the fantasy literature genre, such as Dragonlance Chronicle（《龍槍》）, and the Dark Elf trilogy（《黑暗精靈三部曲》） as well as Isaac Asimov's science fiction Foundation series（《基地三部曲》）. He and his friends founded a web site titled Lucifer's Hell (路西法的地獄) about fantasy literature and related games. In its chat room Chu learned of the mega movie project on Tolkien's trilogy. Chu then approached Linking Publishing Company and initiated to re-translate the books, showing to their editors his past translation of 19 books related to fantasy literature. Chu plainly pointed out to Linking that their

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existing Chinese translation (1998 version) was lousy and failed to speak to fantasy/adventure fans. Chu proposed a bold and comprehensive marketing plan to Linking, and took audacious moves to achieve his goal: 1. Chu assured Linking that if the book sold less than 10,000 sets (40,000 copies), he

would not charge them a thing. 2. If the target sales volume was reached, Chu would receive 9% of the sales of each

book. It set an unprecedented example of translators getting royalties. 3. Chu quit his job at a public relations company and completed the translation of 1,800

pages of Tolkien's four books (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) in nine months, three months ahead of the agreed schedule. 4. Chu took advantage of his Lucifer's Hell web site to mobilize fantasy

literature/games fans to help promote the books, and spent NT$80,000 to organize a "fan ceremony" to treat his fellow ringers to the movie in one of Warner Village's cinemas. 5. He led the charge on marketing the book to a new fan base in Taiwan, with tactics

like establishing retail channels to reach game players, setting up advance sales online, working closely with the film's distributor in Taiwan, making dozens of speeches, taking daily calls from media and running book-signing activities for months on end. 6. The Lucifer's Hell web site began collecting updates about the making of the film.

The web site's more enthusiastic supporters helped translate daily news articles from sources such as USA Today and the New York Times and sent these stories to both Linking and the film's distributor in Taiwan, Mata Entertainment. The site also established links with TheOneRing.com, the world's biggest Tolkien fan site, and has become the most authoritative Chinese web site for The Lord of the Rings.

G. Success Factors of Chu’s Translation Following on the discussion above, we can summarize factors contributing to the phenomenal success of the new Chinese translation of The Lord of the Rings by Lucifer Chu, when compared with the other not so successful Chinese versions, as follows: Internal Factors: 1.

Chu’s indepth knowledge of Tolkien’s mythology: Chu’s past experiences and researches in fantasy literature paid off and earned him great skills to tackle the translation with relative ease. Comparing with other translators of the novel, Chu is probably the most knowledgeable and authoritative as far as Tolkien’s mythical world is 9/18

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concerned. There are many examples in the books showing how a thorough study of Tolkien’s mythology helps in the translation. Here are a few of them: Translation example: The art of naming in the mythology The other versions translate ‘elf’ as 小 精 靈 , ‘dwarf’ as 小 矮 人 and even the ‘Nazguls’ are sometimes called 小 魔 影 in Linking’s first version. These are all quite unacceptable, as the prefix ‘ 小 ’ gives an impression of mischievous little creatures, thus robbing these characters of their stature and personality. In Tolkien’s mythological world, the Elves are tall and noble creatures of light. The Dwarves, although coming from a shorter race, are stoutly built. Nazguls or Ringwraiths are terrible enemies, fierce creatures of the dark. Only Chu’s translation has no prefix of ‘ 小 ’ in front of 精靈 and 矮人, and 戒靈 (Nazguls or Ringwraiths) are never called cute names like 小魔影. Another problem in naming can be found in the mistranslations of the terms ‘High Elves’ and their language ‘high-elven’, due to a lack of understanding of the mythological background. High Elves Variety 台灣萬象（1998）海舟譯

高山小精靈

Linking 聯經（1998）張建平等譯

高種小精靈

Linking 聯經(2001）朱學恆譯

高等精靈

Yilin 譯林（2001）丁棣等譯

純種小精靈

The term High Elves refers to a special kind of Elves, a nobler kind who had seen the light of the Two Trees of Valinor before they were destroyed by Morgoth. It is obvious that only Chu’s translation correctly conveys this meaning. 2.

Chu’s literary attainment: Chu’s translation shows commendable literary skills in many places. As Chen Chiu-ling (陳秋玲), marketing manager at Linking said, “[Chu's] dialogues are more vivid and fluent and especially appeal to college students." A prominent example is the translation of the Verse of the Rings, the ‘theme song’ of the novel, as follows: Translation example : Verse of the Rings Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

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In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

Variety 萬象

Linking first version 聯經初譯

Yilin 譯林

天下魔戒有三枚屬於小精靈國王

三枚戒指給天底下的小精靈國君，

三大戒指歸屬天下小精靈諸君，

七枚在侏儒王爺那石頭的殿堂

　七枚戒指給石廳中的小矮人之王，

　七大戒指歸屬石廳小矮人列王，

九枚屬於壽命不長的世間凡人

九枚戒指給注定免不了一死的人，

九枚戒指屬於陽壽可數的凡人，

還有一枚屬於黑暗之君，

　一枚戒指給在黑暗中的黑大王──

　還有一枚屬於高居御座的黑魁首。

在那摩多地方由一片魔影籠罩著。

莫都大地黑影幢幢。

　這枚戒指發現了它們，

　一枚戒指統領眾戒，盡歸羅網，

在黑暗寶座上 在摩爾多國那陰影居住的地方 這一枚魔戒統轄著全部戒指 持有它就在冥冥中牽動各方

並且掌管著它們， 　這枚戒指帶回了它們，

持有它就能找到所有魔戒 在摩爾多國那陰影居住的地方

　一枚戒指禁錮眾戒，昏暗無光。 莫都大地黑影幢幢。

並將它們禁錮在黑暗之中。 是呀！在那摩多地方 由一片魔影籠罩著……。

Linking 聯經朱學恆譯 天下精靈鑄三戒， 地底矮人得七戒， 壽定凡人持九戒， 魔多妖境暗影伏， 闇王坐擁至尊戒。 至尊戒，馭眾戒； 至尊戒，尋眾戒， 魔戒至尊引眾戒； 禁錮眾戒黑暗中， 魔多妖境暗影伏。 Comparing the four translations of the verse, obviously Chu’s translation reads and looks more like a verse than the rest. It is succinct and rhythmic, reminiscent of Buddhist chants. However, as there are as many as 56 songs and verses in the novel, not all of them are treated with equally zealous endeavors, taking care of rhymes etc. The same is also true for the rest of the book, which although is in general vivid and eloquent, contains a number of places which deserve better rendering, as can be seen in a later example. 3.

Poor qualities of the other versions of translation: While Chu’s version is in general an acceptable translation from correctness and language points of view, the other versions, especially the older version published by Linking in 1998, are found to contain numerous flaws and some outright mistakes, mostly due to poor comprehension of the

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original text and a lack of thorough understanding of the whole mythology set out by Tolkien. Translation example 1: But my lad Sam will know more about that. He’s in and out of Bag End. Crazy about stories of the old days he is, and he listens to all Mr Bilbo’s tales. Mr Bilbo has learned him his letters—meaning no harm, mark you, and I hope no harm will come of it. (Tolkien, p.24)

不過我兒子薩姆對這事會比我清楚些，他常在巴根出入，他對過去時代的故事喜歡得入 迷，關於比爾博先生的故事他全都愛聽。比爾博先生給他傳授過自己的 學問 ──他沒有 惡意，你知道的，而我希望這件事不要落個壞結果。 【Variety 萬象《魔戒同盟》，海舟譯， 第一冊，第 48 頁】 不過我兒子山姆會瞭解詳情的，他常常在貝金兜底進進出出。他對於以前在那裡的事情好 奇得要命，不管畢爾波先生說什麼，他都不肯漏掉，畢爾波先生得知他那些信件的事─ ─要記住，這沒惡意，而我也不希望會招來什麼壞事。 【Linking 聯經《魔戒團（上）》，第 39 頁】 我兒子山姆大概會知道得更清楚。他常常進出袋底洞。這孩子最喜歡聽故事，所有比爾博 先生的故事他都背得滾瓜爛熟。比爾博先生甚至還教他識字，各位別露出那種表情，他 可是一片好心，但願不會有什麼麻煩才好。 【Linking 聯經《魔戒首部曲：魔戒現身》，朱學 恆譯，第 43 頁】 “Learn someone one’s letters” means “teach someone what one knows”. The first Linking version gives an incorrect literal translation of “letters” and leaves the reader totally dumbfounded. Translation example 2: And the Dark Lord took it, and nursed it with fell meats, until it grew beyond the measure of all other things that fly; and he gave it to his servant to be his steed. (Tolkien, p.822)

而黑暗之君收留了牠，用腐肉養大牠們，使牠體烈超過所有會飛的動物， 並將牠交給部 下作為坐騎。【Variety 萬象《國王歸來》，海舟譯，第一冊，第 215 頁】 薩烏隆捉住它，用死人肉餵養它，直至它長得超過其他一切飛禽，他使它成為他的腳力， 為他效勞。【Linking 聯經《國王歸來（上）》，楊心意譯，第 157 頁】 黑暗魔君接納了牠，用腐敗的肉類餵養牠，直到牠的體型超越了所有飛行的生物為止， 魔王再把這些妖獸賞賜給忠實的僕人。 【Linking 聯經《魔戒三部曲：王者再臨》，朱學恆 譯，第 138-139 頁】

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The winged creature was given by Sauron, the Dark Lord, to his servants, the Ringwraiths. Here the first Linking version again made a serious mistake in comprehension and translated as Sauron using the winged creature as his own steed. Translation example 3: You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless. For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.” The winged creature screamed at her, but the Ringwraith made no answer, and was silent, as if in sudden doubt. (Tolkien, p.823) 你擋在我和我的 陛下與親人 之 間 ，如果你並非打不死，那就快滾吧！要是你碰他一碰 ， 我就殺死你，不管他是活著還是昏死過去。」 那隻長翅膀的怪物衝她尖叫，但魔戒陰魂 卻沒有回答，他在沈默，似乎突然有些遲疑。 【Variety 萬象《國王歸來》，海舟譯，第一冊，第 216─217 頁】 你站到我和我的陛下及親屬之間了。如果你也是會死的人，那就滾開吧！只要你碰他一 下，為了生者和隱蔽的不死者，我會殺了你。」 大翅膀怪物對著她尖聲怪叫，但是薩烏 隆沒有回答，他雖不作聲，似乎突然猶豫不決。 【Linking 聯經《國王歸來（上）》，楊心意譯，第 158─159 頁】 你的對象是我王和我父 ，如果你並非永生不死，那就滾開吧！不管你是活人還是邪惡 的幽靈，如果你敢碰他一根汗毛，我都會將你千刀萬剮，永世不得超生。 妖獸對她嘶吼，但戒靈卻遲疑了，沉默地沒有做出任何回應。 【Linking 聯經《魔戒三部曲： 王者再臨》，朱學恆譯，第 140 頁】 In this example, Linking’s first version contains two serious mistakes. Firstly, ‘living or dark undead’ is used to describe the Ringwraith. Linking’s rendering is completely incomprehensible. Secondly, it should be the Ringwraith standing next to the winged creature there, but Linking’s first version mistook it as Sauron, probably due to the mistake mentioned in example 2 above about who was using the winged creature as his steed. Here we have found also a problem in Chu’s translation, in the sentence “you stand between me and my lord and kin”, which are better rendered in the other two translations.

External Factors: 1.

Successful marketing campaigns: Marketing strategies carefully planned and carried out for Linking’s relaunch of the new Chinese version of The Lord of the Rings played an instrumental part in pushing sales to a wild success. Linking made a sound business judgment with calculated risks on the business proposal put forward by Chu, despite the

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fact that re-translating the book was not only risky but embarrassing because it was a tacit admission that the previous version was a failure. Chu did not let Linking down. His in-depth knowledge of Tolkien’s fabricated world and its influence on various forms of art (literature, music and film) in the West over the decades easily won him the status of the authoritative advocate for The Lord of the Rings in this part of the world. In countless speeches and seminars, he would cite the influence of Tolkien’s works on new fantasy writers (e.g. R.A.Salvatore and Ursula Le Guin), film makers (e.g. George Lucas’s Star Wars series) and composers (Dutch composer Johan De Meij’s The Lord of the Rings Symphony 1). These and other marketing activities together helped create the miracle in Taiwan’s publishing world. 2.

Web site as a promotion tool: Chu's web site has taken advantage of the ubiquitous presence of the internet in the information age to promote his work. The site has a forum to discuss translation problems encountered in The Lord of the Rings, as well as a chat room through which Chu formed an ally with his fellow ringers. According to him, there are about 20,000 Taiwanese ringers, most of whom dwell in on-line game forums and chat rooms. These people constituted the core of an important base to help in the propaganda campaign.

3.

Harry Potter’s fad: Worldwide success of Harry Potter introduced Western fantasy literature to the East. While enchanted Chinese readers try to find more works in a similar genre, Chu would point out in speeches and seminars that The Lord of the Rings has more depth and height than Harry Potter, because J.K. Rowling was criticized by religious groups for promoting witchcraft but The Lord of the Rings is set beyond all religious, cultural or national boundaries.

4.

The Lord of the Rings movie: As explained above, Chu and Linking have closely followed the production details of the movie. It is part of the plan that they would relaunch The Lord of the Rings in a schedule which would coincide with the release of the film. The movie helped the translator and readers visualize and realize the mythology setup and characters. At the same time, this Oscar wining movie also turned many enlightened viewers into readers and even fans of the books. Besides, the movie also helps influence readers’ perception of translation, as illustrated by the following example: Translation example:

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Linking 聯經 （1998） 張建平等譯 Linking 聯經 (2001） 朱學恆譯 Yilin 譯林（2001） 丁棣等譯

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Changing Role of the Translator & LOTR

邁大步 / 阿拉岡

阿爾溫

神行客 / 亞拉岡

亞玟

大步 / 阿拉貢

阿爾溫

Those who have admired the awesome performance of Viggo Mortensen (as Aragorn, or Strider, the king disguised as a ranger) and Liv Tyler (as Arwen, the elf princess) would undoubtedly find Chu’s translation of their names much more acceptable and matching to the characters in the movie than the other versions. The same applies to the translation of Elf, Dwarf and Nazgul as mentioned above in the discussion of internal success factors.

H. The Changing Role of the Translator The success story of Lucifer Chu will surely inspire fellow translators, and perhaps also wouldbe-translators who consider themselves capable of translating, to follow suit. The ever changing role of the translator has taken on some new elements which have never come into play before. Apart from the lexical aspect of the job and matters related to the contents of the translation, for instance, religious doctrines, literature, trading or other practical topics, the postmodern translator in the new millennium may need to pay attention to additional areas. In essence, all businesses, publishing of translated works being no exception, are best described by two buzz words of today: market-oriented and knowledge-based. Future translators, as exemplified by Lucifer Chu today, are bound to get more involved in these aspects as well: planning and/or taking part in marketing and promotional events, keeping abreast of the topic of interest through the almighty internet, and more desirably, setting up one’s own web site to fully capitalize on the power of media and the information age. While translators start diversifying their skills and broadening their exposure to engage themselves in a wider scope and to take up non-lexical roles, the reverse also holds true. Every now 15/18

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and then some celebrities, or people with a name in whatever field they are in, would cross the boundary and do some translation. Although it is often not clear if these people are equipped with adequate language skills of the source and target languages, let alone the know-how and craft of translation, it is quite sure that they do possess an important element of success in today’s world: ninki, （人氣）, popularity, or a well-known name adored by the media. Thus they can earn themselves opportunities to work on translation projects which trained, qualified and competent translators can hardly reach or partake. For example, the world famous Moomin series of stories, written by Finnish writer Tove Jansson, has been re-translated and published by 張小嫻, who is famous for writing modern love stories and is also the founder of a women’s magazine. To cite another recent example, top Japanese singer Hikaru Utada （宇多田光）translated into Japanese a popular children's picture book in the U.S. called "Emily the Strange", and it soon sped to the top of the bestseller charts, although her translation skills were openly questioned.

I. Conclusion After the above study and comparison between the translation of new and old Chinese versions of The Lord of the Rings, we have found that Lucifer Chu’s translation has considerable improvements over the previous versions, especially in the overall understanding and presentation of Tolkien’s mythology. From a rhetoric perspective, certain parts (e.g. the translation of the Ring Verse) are well translated and more refined than some other parts of the translation, which might have been better rendered had there been more time for the translator. The great success of the book is disproportionate to its enhancements in translation. The critical factors of success lied in the local marketing effort exerted by the publisher and the translator himself, coupled with the international hype resulted from the movie. It might have out-weighted the importance of lexical work, command of languages and translation skills. Lucifer Chu spent nine months on translating and perhaps an equal amount of time doing marketing research and sales promotion. This may foretell the trend in which future translators may need to take. Since the general public’s perception and reception of translated works may largely be affected by factors other than the language itself, efforts spent in enhancing translation and language skills will be overshadowed by publicity gimmicks and marketing strategies. Until the day when the overall level of language appreciation of the general public is uplifted and readerships with legitimate taste and critical assessment are formed, it is up to us translators to jump out of the lexical well to broaden up and equip ourselves with other skills (social, communication, marketing, project management, internet etc), if we want our work to be appreciated, or at least be read. Then perhaps one day we may establish ourselves as celebrities in the field of translation, and enjoy the built up ninki and credibility which will help us further our career.

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J. Reference Thesis:  Van der Peet, D. (2000). The Lord of the Rings: Critique of the Two Chinese Translations. A Thesis Submitted to The Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation Studies of Fu Jen Catholic University, Taiwan.

Web sites:  Alberge D. and Wagner E. (1997). Lord(s) of the Books http://orwell.ru/a_life/lords100/e/e_lbk.htm

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Chu, L. (2003) Lucifer's Hell 《路西法的地獄》

http://www.lucifer.hoolan.org/

Lin, L. (2002). New translation rings true http://taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2002/01/20/120777

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呂曼文(2002)。《戴上「魔戒」的二十七歲千萬小富 翁》http://magazine.pchome.com.tw/businessweekly/739/businessweekly_12-1.html

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朱錦華 (2001) 編譯自法新社特稿。《魔戒新聞集錦：托爾金的魔戒三部曲風雲再 起》http://www.udngroup.com.tw/linkingp/promote/promote87012news.asp?newsid=99

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楊照(2002)。《兩個文學天才的故 事》http://archive.udn.com/2002/8/8/NEWS/CULTURE/UDN-

SUPPLEMENT/938691.shtml Publications:  Newmark, P. (1993). Paragraphs on Translation. Clevedon, Philadelphia, Adelaide: Multilingual Matters Ltd.

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Newmark, P. (1998). More Paragraphs on Translation. Clevedon, Philadelphia, Sydney: Multilingual Matters Ltd.

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Pearce, J. (1998). Tolkien: Man and Myth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.

Tolkien, J.R.R. (1954, 1955, 1965, 1966). The Lord of the Rings, One Volume Edition. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company

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托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，朱學恆譯(2001)。 《魔戒首部曲－魔戒再現》。台北：聯經出

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托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，朱學恆譯(2001)。 《魔戒二部曲－雙城奇謀》。台北：聯經出

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托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，朱學恆譯(2001)。 《魔戒三部曲－王者再臨》。台北：聯經出

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托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，張儷、鄭大民、張建平合譯(1998)。 《魔戒 I 第一部－魔戒團 17/18

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(上)》。台北：聯經出版事業公司。

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戒 II 第一部－魔戒團(下)》。台北：聯經出版事業公司。

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托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，吳洪譯(1998)。 《魔戒 III 第二部－雙塔記(上)》。台北：聯經

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托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，吳洪譯(1998)。 《魔戒 IV 第二部－雙塔記(下) 》。台北：聯經

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托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，楊心意譯(1998)。 《魔戒 V 第三部－國王歸來(上)》。台北：

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托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，楊心意譯(1998)。 《魔戒 VI 第三部－國王歸來(下)》。台北：

聯經出版事業公司。

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托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，丁棣譯(2001)。 《魔戒（第一部）：魔戒再現》。南京：譯林

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托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，姚錦鎔譯(2001)。 《魔戒（第二部）：雙塔奇兵》。南京：譯

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托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，湯定九譯(2001)。 《魔戒（第三部）：王者無敵》。南京：譯

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