There are many translations that deviate from the original intention in the book. When the reader first read "Green Arrow" (page 379), did you know what it said? It turned out to be Green Lantern/Green Arrow. Names that should be transliterated, such as "bat whip", are actually translated as "bat whip". Moreover, the author seems to prefer the word "leader". Whenever you meet the word captain, it will be translated into leader-others will only call Captain America the leader of the United States. Where will this put the president of the United States?
Most of the problems stem from not knowing the original text and looking for meaning in the text. For example, Batman is a member of the vigilante for revenge (38 1 page), the author doesn't seem to know the word vigilante (vigilante, mostly derogatory, means to enforce the law regardless of the law), so he just looked it up in the dictionary and began to write it. What exactly is the vigilante? When did Batman join? There are many such mistakes, which makes people wonder how many cartoons the author has read. As for the famous British national drama DoctorWho, being translated into Dr. Hu highlights the author's strangeness to pop culture.
At present, it is not appropriate to use a lot of second-hand materials in a book that calls itself "history". When encountering these problems, the author always has to make some efforts to prove it. After all, the network is so developed now that it is not difficult to verify it. This book does use the internet, but it is not for verification, but for copying online articles.
This book introduces Batman and the Justice League, and the fourth part is "Post-turning Period". It uses a lot of the contents of many original articles published by the author on the Internet since 2003, but only adjusts some words and translates the English names in the original text into Chinese, without mentioning the source. Ironically, because the author's starting point of these articles is to introduce comic stories, he uses the time setting in the stories, not the real history, and the author of the book actually plagiarized them as official history, which has no distinguishing ability. For example:
Police chief Gordon appeared in the first issue of Batman's debut. At first, Gordon was just a symbolic symbol representing the "police", and his role gradually enriched with the passage of time. We can see his decades of sacrifice as a policeman, his struggle with power, contradictions in his private life, his concern for his family, his protection and concern for Batman, their disputes and tacit understanding, and how an upright person can win respect. He probably discovered Batman's true identity from the beginning, but he didn't want to delve into it, preferring to put himself at a disadvantage. Their silent friendship for more than ten years has also become one of the most touching places in Batman's story. (Author "Bat! 》)
Police chief James Gordon appeared as early as Batman's debut. In the early days, Gordon was just a symbol of the police. As time goes on, the image of this role is gradually enriched. In the past decades, as a policeman, he has made many sacrifices. His struggle with power, his concern for his family, especially his care and protection for Batman, showed his integrity and won people's respect. From the beginning, he discovered Batman's true identity, but he never delved into it, preferring to be at a disadvantage. The decades-long silent friendship between them has also become one of the most touching factors in Batman's story. (History of American Comics: 38 1)
As soon as the news came out, the whole country was in an uproar, and even USA-Today and The Wall Street Journal reported on it, which was unexpected by DennyO'Neil, the editor who planned it. Most of the audiences of these media are adults, some of whom have never read comics, but the TV series in the 1960s made Robin a household name. They thought that the murdered Robin was Dick-the person they grew up with-so they turned their anger on the editor, as if he had killed a real teenager instead of a cartoon character. (The author "Looking Back at the Dark Ages")
After Robin's death, the whole country was in an uproar, and even influential media such as USA-Today and The Wall Street Journal reported it, which made the planning editor Denny O'Neil unexpected. Some Americans never read comic books, but the TV series Batman in the 1960s made Robin a household name. They thought the murdered Robin was Dick who grew up with them, so they turned their anger on the editor as if he had killed a real teenager instead of a comic book character. (History of American Comics, p. 977)
There are many similarities, so I won't list them one by one. I wonder if the author would rather be innocent when he declared in the postscript that "this book with more than one million words uses first-hand translation materials"? The related article "Questioning American Comics for Decades" was published in Shanghai Oriental Morning Post B 15, 20117. The full text is as follows:
Since Jiang published "American Comics for Decades" (Shanghai Book Review, 20 12) in March, 20/2, a large number of articles appeared on the Internet, claiming that my monograph "History of American Comic Comics" plagiarized her online articles, and a large number of unsightly words appeared at one time, which caused great mental harm to me.
The History of American Comic Books is a monograph about the history of American comic books 100 years. It took me seventeen years to finish it. It has more than one million words and more than 1,100 pages. Twenty-seven years ago, when I was an editor in Jiangsu People's Publishing House, I was inspired by the great success in editing Miscellaneous Comics and Father and Son Comics and decided to write this monograph.
The original data sources of this monograph mainly include two parts: first, dozens of monographs by American cartoon theory authorities such as Maurice Horn and Coulton Waugh; The other is dozens of file versions provided by American DC Comics Company. There are no fewer than 30 translators in the former, mainly some teachers and students in the Department of Foreign Languages of Nanjing University and some foreign language editors in the publishing house during the period of 1987- 1996, while dozens of translators in the latter are professional translators with professional titles, including many famous translators.
The evidence of Jiang's repeated "plagiarism" has only seen four articles and hundreds of words so far. It's almost two years, and I haven't seen her plan to go to court. Therefore, the following questions about the four paragraphs of "plagiarism" listed by Ms. Jiang are as follows:
First, the four paragraphs listed by Ms. Jiang are all translations introduced to American comic companies on the Internet, and they are by no means comic scripts created by her. Since both versions are from the same place, how can you arbitrarily say that everything you translated has been "copied" by others? Since it is conclusive to accuse others of infringement, why not solve it through legal channels?
Secondly, Ms. Jiang listed these four paragraphs. So far, I haven't seen her specify when and where they were published. Although The History of American Comics was published in March 2007, it is well documented that the actual final date was 2003. Ms. Jiang claimed on the Internet more than once that she has been publishing such articles on the Internet since 2004. So, what she said is really not legally authenticated?
Third, the four paragraphs listed by Ms. Jiang are at best a few hundred words. To say the least, can you draw the conclusion of plagiarism only by these few hundred words? If it's really like what she said, why not go to court to solve it?
As many people know, I have been engaged in the research and publication of world comics for nearly 30 years, and I am one step ahead in this field in China. Father and Son, Pied Comics and Gino Comics, which are familiar to readers in China, are my first complete introduction to China and won many important national awards. For example, the preface to the history of American comics in 2008.
Although Ms. Jiang accused the "mistranslation" of "A History of American Comics" in "A Chasing" has nothing to do with her "infringement", if right and wrong are not distinguished, she will expand it indefinitely, thus drawing the conclusion that "this book is as thick as a giant brick, but there are many mistranslations and plagiarism".
It is not difficult to see that these "mistranslations" pointed out by Jiang are all translation problems, which account for a very limited proportion in the tens of thousands of translated titles in the history of American comics. As we all know, there have been two kinds of translation problems: "transliteration" and "free translation". Different viewpoints often lead to different translation methods, which is right and wrong, which is better and which is worse, and there is often no conclusion. Conventional practice is a common phenomenon. Obviously, Ms. Jiang did not give any decent examples of "mistranslation". Therefore, in view of the "mistranslation" she pointed out, the article-by-article analysis is as follows:
1. Ms. Jiang accused: "When readers first read' Green Landon'/'Green Arrow' (page 379), did they know what it said? It turned out to be the Green Lantern and the Green Arrow. "
This translation has both transliteration and free translation in the history of American comics. It's just a matter of order, not translation, so there is no need to explain it here.
Second, Ms. Jiang accused: "Names that should be transliterated, such as' Bat Whip', have been translated into' Bat Whip'."
Excuse me, who stipulated the "should" here? Is an authoritative grammar book and a famous translator? Or "Beauty Queen" or "China's most senior European and American cartoon researcher"?
Third, Ms. Jiang accused: "Most of the problems stem from not understanding the original text and finding meaning in the text." Under this big hat, she listed two pieces of evidence:
A. "I don't know Batman"
Can I wear this big hat besides getting into those inexplicable corners? Since 2002, I began to introduce and publish American comic books on a large scale, and I have edited and published nearly 60 kinds of such picture books, including more than 20 kinds of American superhero comic books and only 6 kinds of Batman's representative singles. So, is it true to accuse me of being ignorant of the basic characteristics of Batman? As for Ms. Jiang's statement that "the author doesn't seem to know the word vigilante (vigilante, mostly in a derogatory sense, means to enforce the law regardless of the law), so he just looked up a meaning in the dictionary and started writing it ..." This is purely out of thin air. These words come from the mouth of an amateur translator. Aren't they afraid of giving people a sense of megalomania?
B. "As for the famous British national drama Doctor Who, it was translated into Dr Hu."
I didn't publish Dr. Hu, so I had to spend a lot of time and trouble looking for the original translator of Dr. Hu. The translator, who is now a graduate student, replied: "... the translation of Homer's epic Odyssey is similar to that of Dr. Hu." Odyssey means Odysseus' wandering, but transliteration has been adopted by domestic translation predecessors. According to this feminine logic, shouldn't China, a famous translator, wear "I don't know the original but hope"? In a book of more than one million words, the eggs pick the bones, and other problems cannot be picked out. It is obviously ulterior motive to make a fuss about title translation. What does this have to do with her infringement? "
Ironically, when Jiang laughed at others for translating "Doctor Who" into "Dr Hu", he forgot that he also translated "Doctor Who" into "Dr No"!
Four. Translation of Captain America and American Leader.
Among the four "translation errors" listed by Ms. Jiang, this problem deserves scrutiny. "Captain" means "leader" and "captain". Here is the problem of concept size. Which is better is a matter of opinion. I don't need to explain anything. However, the real problem is not here. There are tens of thousands of translated titles in the history of American comics. Among thousands of translated names, what does this controversial issue mean? If we can become the "king of comics", "queen of comics", "the first person in chinese comic" and "the greatest fan and the most experienced researcher of European and American comics" by this means, there is no doubt that Ms. Jiang can not only dominate the comic strip industry!