Historic Chance and Commitment - An Interview of Shiji&rsquo;s Translation with American Eminent Sinologist William H. Nienhauser Jr.

WEI Hong

Foreign Language Learning Theory and Practice ›› 2018, Vol. 162 ›› Issue (3) : 85.

Historic Chance and Commitment - An Interview of Shiji’s Translation with American Eminent Sinologist William H. Nienhauser Jr.

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Abstract

This paper is an exclusive interview with American eminent sinologist William H. Nienhauser Jr. on his English Translation of Shiji. The translation of the Shiji done with a team under the editorship of Professor Nienhauser is unique, distinctive and of great academic value. Western scholars have always produced two types of translations of classical Western texts (Greek and Roman), one for general readers with a more fluid style and few notes, and another for scholars incorporating extensive annotation on both the text and its contexts. Burton Watson has produced an excellent popular version and Nienhauser’s goal was to provide the scholarly translation of the Shiji. Nienhauser’s version is therefore used primarily by western scholars, specialists and students of the Shiji. Nienhauser adopts the translation mode of international cooperation and the translation method of close reading, whose translation is very precise and significant. His nearly thirty years translation practice and devotion deserve our much concern.