红楼梦和大观园外文文献翻译中英文.docx

红楼梦和大观园外文文献翻译中英文.docx

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红楼梦和大观园外文文献翻译中英文

红楼梦和大观园外文翻译中英文

英文

Tourism,aClassicNovel,andTelevision：

TheCaseofCáoXue˘qin’sDreamoftheRedMansionsandGrandViewGardens,Beijing

ChrisRyan

Abstract

ThisarticlereportsastudyoftheimportanceoftheclassicChinesenovel,TheDreamoftheRedMansion,inattractingvisitorstoGrandViewGardensinBeijing.ThatsitewasbuiltasareplicaofaQingDynastypalaceforapopulartelevisionseries.Thestudyfoundthat52%ofthe308respondentsstatedthatthenovelwasveryorextremelyimportantinattractingthemtothegardens.Thearticleseekstogobeyondthisstatisticbyexamininghowfamiliaritywiththenovelmighthelpexplainsomeofthestatisticalfindingsandconcludesbyarguingthatifoneistoobtainanunderstandingofthetouristexperienceofaplacemadepopularbyfiction,thenitisalsonecessarytoengageincultural,media,andliterarystudiesaswellasconversationsandsurveysofvisitors.Hence,thetextofthenovelisitselfpartofthedataset.

Keywords:

Chineseliterature;tourism;constructions;culture;heritage

Thepurposeofthisarticleistoexaminetowhatextentfamiliaritywiththetelevisionseriesandclassicnovel,TheDreamoftheRedMansion,attractedvisitorstoGrandViewGardensinBeijing.GiventhetexttakenabovefromthenovelbyCáoXue˘qin,thenatureofthesite,thenovel,thefilm,andthedifferentperceptionsofvisitorsmightbesaidtocombinetofulfillCáoXue˘qin’scomplexunfoldingofillusionasreality,andrealityasillusion.Inaddition,repeatedvisitsbytheauthorswerefoundtoinformsubsequentvisitsandtheresearchprojectsothattheauthorsbecamefiltersthroughwhichtobetterunderstandtheplaceandpeople’sexperienceofit.Consequently,thestudyusesamixed-methodsresearchapproachinwhichthedataare

（1）observationandsustainedvisitationduringaperiodofmorethan4months,

（2）thestatisticaldatacollectedfromrespondents,（3）responsestoopen-endedquestions,（4）conversationswithvisitors,and（5）knowledgeofthenovel.ThislastisimportantinthatitquicklybecameevidentthatformanyrespondentsthevisitwasmotivatedbythenovelanditsstatuswithinChineseliteratureas“amasterpieceofrealismwritteninthemiddleoftheeighteenthcentury”（YangandYang1979,p.1289）.Theimplicationofthisisthatasixthsourceofdataexists,whichistheexperienceandknowledgeoftheauthorsofnotonlythesitebutalsoChineseculture,includingitsTaoistandBuddhistunderpinnings.Consequently,thediscoursewithinthisarticleisinformedbynotonlyanempiricistresearchtraditionbutalsoasubjectivetraditionofobservationthatAdlerandAdler（1994,p.389）maintainservesas“themostpowerfulformofvalidation.”Bynecessity,therefore,theauthorshaverecoursenotonlytothemeta-narrativesimplicitinthepostpositivisticapproachthatseekstogeneralizeandpredictfromquantitativedatabutalsointheminutiaeofobservationsofbehaviors.Theyhaveadoptedideasderivedfromsymbolicorinterpretiveinteractionismandthe“livedinexperience”asproposedbyDenzin（2001）andthestanceofCAPethnography—thatis,creativeanalyticalpractice—asespousedbyRichardson（2000）,bywhichresearchunfoldsmicroactionswithunknownmacroimplications.However,problemsrelatetosuchnon-postpositivisticapproachespremisedontheviewthat“thetruth”ofasituationisstructuredwithinitssocialsettingandthattheresearcherisalsopartofthatstructure.Theauthorsrecognizethattheactofaskingaquestionisnotneutral.Thequestionshapesthearticulationofaresponseonthepartoftherespondent,andthusaskingaquestioninitiatesareplyonthepartoftherespondentaboutsomethingwhichtherespondentmaynotactuallyhavepreviouslythoughtabout.Forexample,avisitormayvisitanattractionunawarethatitisassociatedwithanovelorafilm,butonbeingtoldofthelinkagewillnowshapearesponsehavinghadthatlinkagecreatedinhisorhermind.Thequestionhaschangedthevisitor’sexperience!

Simplycollectingdatathatareformedsolelybyresponsestoaquantitativelybasedquestionnairedoesnotincludethisaspectofthevisitorexperience.However,achallengethenexistsfortheresearcher.Whilenowtheresearcherhasplayedaroleintheconstructionoftheexperience,howdoestheresearcherestablishthecredibilityofaninterpretationinthereportingofthevisitorexperiencetowhichtheyhavecontributed?

Inthisinstancetheauthorsusedtextanalysissoftwaretohelpformulatetheinterpretationofatleastpartofthequalitativedata.

Tosummarize,theresearchquestionistowhatextentassociationswithfilmandliteratureattractpeopletothegardens,orarethegarden’saestheticattributesalonesufficient?

Accordingly,thearticleiscontextualizedwithindifferenttexts.First,thereisthatrelatedtothenovelitself.Second,thereisthatrelatedtotheacademicliteratureontherelationshipbetweenfilmsandnovelsononehandandtourismontheother.Third,thereisthatrelatedtothemodesofanalysisadopted.Thislastincludessomeexplanationofthesoftwareusedtointerpretthetextualdata.ThearticleisalsopremisedonaviewthatthereislittlewrittenabouttherelationshipbetweenliteratureandtelevisionononehandandpatternsofvisitationtositesinChinaontheother.Thisarticledoesnotpretendtoofferadefinitiveanalysisofthatsituationbutsimplyseekstoinitiateadiscussionbyofferingthiscasestudy.

Consequently,thearticleisdividedintovarioussections.Thefirstisadescriptionofthenovelandlocationoftheresearch,therebyindicatingwhythegardenswereselectedasasiteforthisresearch.Second,thereisareviewoftheliteraturepertainingtovisitormotivationandreactiontositesbasedonpopularmediarepresentations.Third,theresultsoftheresearcharepresented,beforefinallyadiscussionoftheimplicationsoftheresearchcompletesthearticle.

GrandViewGardensandTheDreamoftheRedMansion

TheDreamoftheRedMansionisoneoftheclassicpiecesofChineseliterature,andthusthedestinationhastwofacetstobeingatouristattraction.First,itreplicatesthelocationofthestoryitself.Second,thedestinationwascreated,inBeijing,from1984to1989asafilmlocationforatelevisionseriesthat,becauseofitshistoricalantecedentsaswellastheepicstyleoftheproduction,becameverypopularinChina.However,unlikemanyWesternfilmsets,thebuildingsnotonlysoughttoreplicatetheQingDynastysettingofthenovelbutalsowerebuiltaspermanentstructuresonalargescale.Itcovers30hectares（32.12acres）andreplicatesinfullsizethepalace,pavilions,andgardensoftheperiod,asisillustratedinfigures1and2.ItalsoappealstotouristsbybeingmorethansimplyareplicaofclassicalChinesearchitecturebyalsomaintainingapermanentexhibitionofcostumesandphotographsofthefilmseriesandthroughhostingvariouseventsbasedonthestoryline,including“TheImperialConcubineYuanVisitsHome,”“AGrandViewGardenTempleFair,”and“TheGrandViewGardenMid-AutumnNight.”Inaddition,asshowninfigures3and4,thegardensareusedasarecreationalresourcebylocalpeople.Inaddition,visitorsareofferedanopportunitytobedressedintheclothesoftheperiod,havephotographstaken（figure5）,andbecarriedinasedanchair.Visitorspayanentrancefee,butlocalpeopleareabletobuyanannualpassataheavilydiscountedprice,therebypermittingfrequentaccesstothegardens.ThisisconsistentwithnormalChinesepracticeinBeijingasevidencedatotherparks,forexampleJingshangPark.Chineseparksareimportantsocialmeetingplacesandarevenuesfordance,song,andgamesplayingfortheirlocalcommunities.Thisstudyisofnonlocalvisitors,butthelocalpeoplearepartoftheexperientialframework,anditcanbearguedthatmultiplegazesexistwithintheparkwherenonlocalvisitors,especiallynon-Chinese,arethemselvesgazedonbythelocals.Forananalysisofthisexistenceofmultiplegazes,seeWillemen（1995,p.114）whonotes,“Anyarticulationofimagesandlookswhichbringsintoplaythepositionandactivityoftheviewer...alsodestabilisesthatposition...theviewer[therefore]runstheriskofbecomingtheobjectofthelook.”

Thenovel,writtenbyCáoXue˘qin,waswritteninthemiddleoftheeighteenthcenturyandisthoughttobe,atleastinpart,autobiographical（Hawkes1973）.CenteredontwohousesoftheJiaClan,itisanepicwithmorethan400characters.Theirstoriesaretoldoverfourvolumes,120chapters,and2,549pages.Onthefaceofitthestoryisabouttwogreathousesbroughttoruinthroughadictatorialwhim,whilewithinthesagathereliesastoryofromancedeniedanddecayanddecline,asgreatasanyfoundinWesternliterature.Itisdifficulttounderstatetheimportanceofthenovel.Minford（1986,p.15）commentsthat“wewitnessdeath（sometimesbriefandpoignant,moreoftenprotractedandharrowing）,ruin（nowhereinChineseliteratureistheresuchawellinventoriedchronicleofafamily’s‘confiscation’）.”Throughoutthestoryisthelifeofthemajorprotagonist,JiaBao-yu—thestone.Andhereinliesthecomplexityofthestory,forthisisnomeretellingofafamily’sfortunelikeJohnGalsworthy’sForsyteSaga,indicativethoughthatnovelisofthesocialmoresofitstime.TheDreamoftheRedMansionisinfusedwithTaoistandBuddhistthoughtandobservation（Kao1988）.Hawkes（1973,p.45）statesthat“Chinesedevoteesofthenoveloftencontinuetoreadandrereaditthroughouttheirlivesandtodiscovermore...eachtime