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Satire Lost In A Foreign Language

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Written by Alice Poon

Friday, 03 April 2009

The Chip Tsao racial slur misunderstanding seems to me to be an unfortunate case of satire lost in writing in a language other than the writer’s own. I’m not in the least alluding to any flaws in Tsao’s English skills, but just wish to say that the task of conveying one’s profound feelings and thoughts or sarcastic vernaculars in a language other than one’s own can be just as daunting as translating a sardonic text in the native tongue into a foreign language.

As a regular reader of Tsao’s Chinese columns and as a bilingual Hong Kong native, I find it easy to detect at once, upon reading his controversial piece, his ridicule of the harsh treatment of Philippine maids by Hong Kong employers and his mockery of the inaction by the Chinese government over some national security and sovereignty issues and of its unceasing use of propaganda. When read in context, the reference to Philippine maids cannot be said to be insulting. Still, as the piece was written in English, Tsao’s second language, his overall mocking tone has not been appreciated by all readers and a specific part of the article has been taken by some to be offending.

Had Tsao written the same piece in Chinese, I’m sure that all Hong Kong Chinese readers (not so sure about mainland Chinese readers) would have been able to take it for what it is – a piece of satire – and to have a good laugh, like with most of his satirical columns in Apply Daily and Next Magazine. And there wouldn’t have been a single stir among Philippine maids. But if such a piece had first been written in Chinese by Tsao and then translated into English by any proficient translator other than Tsao, I wouldn’t be sure if it would not have resulted in the same belligerent response from the Philippine community. The translated text wouldn’t have been a lot different from Tsao’s own English version and thus could have been just as offending to some.

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges in translation work is the near-impossible task of bringing out the tone and nuances of a piece in Chinese, in, say, an English translation, especially when they have to do with deep emotions, humor, sarcasm or satire which can readily be understood in the original language and attendant culture but which may not be so plain once translated into another language. Very often, in the translator’s zeal to express the writer’s words as accurately and truthfully as possible, the tone and nuances get lost in the translating process.

I say this out of my own experience with translating Chinese pieces into English (mostly grouped under the category “China Current Events” in my blog here). One example is the piece “Ego and Freedom” – I was unable to convey the sarcastic tone of the writer of the original piece, and one English reader made a comment that showed he was unable to detect the sarcasm (due to my translation inefficacies). The writer was actually sneering at his own countrymen’s placing their ego (or face) above their desire for freedom, but the commenter thought that the writer was trying to use lame excuses to defend Chinese people’s inertia in seeking freedom.

The same problem exists in translating an English piece into Chinese.

Blogger John Pete over at Sinosplice.com seems to think that “proper translation from Chinese to English requires a native speaker of English”. I am not sure that I agree with that. I would think that any quality translation in a language pair (English-Chinese and Chinese-English) requires a translator who is equally proficient in both languages and equally familiar with both cultures. I am not a native speaker of English (Chinese being my first language and English second) but I would like to think that my Chinese-to-English translation work is “proper” enough. Training in this area was mostly from my previous office job as well as from writing for my blog (where I regularly post translated pieces) in the last couple of years. During my younger days, I had done English-to-Chinese translation for eight years for a Hong Kong property tycoon. I think that experience in translation work both ways is conducive to perfecting the skills and I am still a long way off from reaching perfection.

I must say that I am heartened to find that more and more Westerners are now willing to learn the Chinese language and culture and many are becoming as proficient as the natives. One of the most fascinating aspects of translation may be the inherent power bestowed on the translator of connecting people from what may be two totally diverse cultures and of informing and educating both peoples about their counterpart. Translators are the bridging devices that serve to eliminate as far as possible any misconception or misunderstanding between the two peoples.

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written by luxury car seat , October 29, 2009

As always the corrupt cabal in Manila have pounced on a perceived insult to their good name. How can a country be so proud when their main industry is exporting often well-educated people to clean the bottoms of privileged babies from Riyadh to Repulse Bay? Or the thousands of green-clad slaves working in the manicured gardens of Jeddah compounds? Or the crooners in every Dubai nightclub? This is not a ruling class to be respected. They may be the paler faced elite, but their sophistication and Fendi bags don't remove the stain of the remittance men and women who save the economy. Talk to Manoy, the illegal private taxi driver in the stinking Saudi capital. "Why are you here?" "Because Gloria needs the money." That mental midget in the palace of shoes surrounds herself with lesser morons, and thus the amahs who push the prams in Victoria Park have no real supporting voice, just one conveniently heard when something trivial can be siezed upon to divert attention from the crumbling economy and the debris-strewn streets of a fallen nation.

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double
written by tiffany jewelry , October 21, 2009

decided to comment

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written by club penguin , June 07, 2009

I just read the piece in question - I hadn't heard of it beforehand I linked here from a newsfeed on articles about "language", didn't know the context or situation under discussion, know nothing about the author, etc. I am a native speaker of English living in N. America. And yet, I certainly got the satirical tone of the article.

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written by Bob Jones , April 14, 2009

I'm from the US as well, and never heard of this guy, or read any of his articles before, and its VERY VERY clear that it is satire. I didn't think it was possible for anyone to take it seriously, much less an entire nation of people. I think we are just very used to satire here in the states - American satire is very similar to British satire. Clearly the Phillipinno's need to start teaching "A Modest Proposal" in their English Literature classes....

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written by Jim , April 09, 2009

I am not going to jump into the translation fray, though I will say that there is an unspoken rule of thumb among poetry translators that you translate from the non-native language into your native language. Translating the opposite way usually, though not always, results in bad translations. Mainland Chinese bookstores are full of utterly terrible English translations of Chinese poetry by native Chinese speakers. There is one particular and popular "professorial" translation of the Tang shi san bai shou that brings me to tears ... of laughter whenever I read it. I'm quite sure he wasn't trying to be funny.

I read the piece by Chip Tsao, and I must say that it would be hard for a native speaker to take it as anything but tongue-in-cheek, unless, of course, it appeared in the China Daily.

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Article is pretty fuzzy
written by MAC , April 06, 2009

It's funny, those cretins at Huanqiu Shibao and their vile readership don't seem to find any satire in the piece. From what I've seen, the majority of the readers take him seriously and praise him:

http://china.huanqiu.com/roll/2009-04/424608.html

I have never read "Chip" in English- in fact, I didn't know who this was about at first- but it's comforting to know that poor Chinese isn't the only reason that I sometimes have trouble getting his point. I don't think this article is meant seriously, but in the end, I'm not really sure what his point is.

I hope the Philippines keep whatever rocks this latest spat is about. There's nothing I love more than seeing the Chinese huff and puff about losing out to people they consider racially inferior.

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of course the filipinos know it is intended as a satire
written by sun bin , April 06, 2009

but a satire 'drawing water' on the CCP does not mean that it is not condescending racism.

these writers are just lousy and insensitive. don't blame the filipinos, they hadnt over-reacted, at all.

just try to re-write the whole thing, switching HK'er and Filipino's role, as if you were writing a satire over the filipinos nationalism. you will understand why the filipinos are upset.

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Lesson # 1: The fault is always with the writer
written by Sal Paradise , April 06, 2009

Please do not blame the audience for misunderstanding. This is the lazy writer's excuse, that the audience just doesn't "get it." If you have something to say, it is your responsibility as a writer to make sure everyone does get it, especially in such a publication as HK Magazine - hardly the coffee shop elite's preferred reading matter I think.

Oh, and equating Chip Tsao to Ann Coulter is like equating Donald Tsang to a real leader.

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written by Stinky , April 04, 2009

"Blogger John Pete over at Sinosplice.com seems to think that 'proper translation from Chinese to English requires a native speaker of English'. I am not sure that I agree with that."

I disagree. Howard Goldblatt, one of the best Chinese-to-English translators doing work these days, believes that it's more important to be proficient in the target language. After all, he argues, you're translating for the benefit of the end reader, not the author of the original piece. Of course, it would be great to be equally proficient in both languages, but how many people have native level ability in two languages? Not many. Imagine someone who is a native level Chinese speaker attempting to translate *Hongloumeng* into English. Unless that person is also a native English speaker, s/he will lack the ability to render the original Chinese into a pleasing form of English that the English-speaking reader can then enjoy. Too often, native Chinese speakers produce only adequate English translations of Chinese literature. Their translations are technically accurate, perhaps, but no one would want to read them. If a native English speaker needs help with translating from the Chinese, s/he can always ask for it. (The tricky part, I guess, is knowing when to ask.) David Hawkes' English translation of *Hongloumeng* is brilliant, in large part, because his English is spectacular - not because he spoke Chinese like a native. Imagine the terrible job that most native Chinese speakers would do with *Hongloumeng*. And consider that nearly every Chinese novel translated into English in recent years has been translated by someone whose native language is English, not Chinese. Most native Chinese speakers, even those whose English is also quite good, lack the sensitivity to produce a pleasing English translation. In such cases, what begins as art, end up a sorry piece of crap that no one wants to read. The native Chinese speaker may understand the original text more easily than the native English speaker, but such problems can be overcome.

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Pasden, not Pete
written by davesgonechina , April 04, 2009

"Blogger John Pete over at Sinosplice.com" should read John Pasden, not Pete.

I wonder if the misunderstanding is partly a result of which countries taught English to Hong Kong and the Philippines. The former learned from the dry Brits, while the latter learned from us, the often more literally-minded Americans. That might lead Filipinos to miss the sarcasm (which seems plenty obvious to me).

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translation: comprehension of source text is crucial
written by Allen , April 04, 2009

"Blogger John Pete over at Sinosplice.com seems to think that “proper translation from Chinese to English requires a native speaker of English”. I am not sure that I agree with that."
I like Alice's modest (under)statement -- the last sentence as quoted above.
Many people, talking about translation, assume that the source text is so simple and clear that no linguistic proficiency is needed to comprehend it, and hence the only task is to bring out the original information or message in the target language. That is a myth, especially when the source language is Chinese. Examples abound of faulty or wrong translations done by native English speakers (some even specializing in Chinese of sinology). Comprehension comes before translation. Native English-speaking translators have to tackle a risky task of understanding the source text in their non-native language. Unfortunately for them, mis-comprehension would bungle the whole job. By comparison, imperfect English in the translated text is a lesser evil.

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Sarcasm, the lowest form ... or was this irony?
written by I married the maid , April 04, 2009

Can some curmudgeonly scholar please explain to me whether the offending piece was irony or sarcasm, the agreed lowest form of wit. I think it was irony that was the platform for the witty diatribe, but hell, I married the maid so what do I know, a mere gweilo on The Peak with more granite in my second bathroom than the Spratleys could supply if blown to smithereens.

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Oversensitivity from Manila
written by Pinoy baiter , April 03, 2009

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Cantonese racism is simply beyond parody
written by barny chan , April 03, 2009

Chip Tsao is a welcome antidote to the tedium of HK's media, but the reason that Filipinos didn't detect the irony in this column is that, if anything, it underplays the boneheaded racist malevolence that they're so used to receiving from the residents of the city. Also, let's not forget that Chip's irony went way over the head of the local expat population when he wrote about washed up alcoholic gweilos living in Lamma Island pigsties...

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The sarcasm doesn't mask the racist condescension underneath
written by Jesse Lee , April 03, 2009

I have read Chip Tsao both in english and in chinese. Frankly his sarcasm doesn't work much better in chinese. His brand of sarcasm reminds me of people like Ann Coulter. Whenever somebody chastises her for her shrill outbursts she'll say it's all sarcasm. Of course it's sarcasm. You can't say it with a straight face, so you're hiding behind th mask of sarcasm. You can dig up Chip Tsao's essay on Barack Obama during the election time if you want to see another example of naked racism hiding behind a shoddily constructed veil of sarcasm.
Philipinos can detect sarcasm as good as anyone else. They can also detect mockery, insult and plain old racism - especially when it's directed at them.

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It was pretty clear to me...
written by S Onosson , April 02, 2009

I disagree with your assessment. I just read the piece in question - I hadn't heard of it beforehand (I linked here from a newsfeed on articles about "language"), didn't know the context or situation under discussion, know nothing about the author, etc. I am a native speaker of English living in N. America. And yet, I certainly got the satirical tone of the article.

I think the fault may in fact lie with the readers who, not picking up on the sarcasm, decided to comment as if the author had been serious.

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