MCLC: Panning the US version of Story of Zhenhuan

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Panning the US version of Story of Zhenhuan
Thought list members might enjoy this. The 76 (40 min.) episode series “Zhen Huan zhuan” (甄嬛传) is on Netflix in a six episode (90 min. each) version with English subtitles entitled “The Empresses in the Palace.” The review I paste below selects criticisms of the American version by Chinese viewers.
Criticisms of the translation are understandable. This material is nuanced in many ways, the writing sounds great, to my ears anyways. But in a sense, the reviewer is implicitly claiming that the deliberate archaic phrasing of this series shows “The considerable cultural depth of classical Chinese” (颇有文化深度的古典中文). Well, I guess “Game of Thrones” borrows a bit of the Shakespearean as well.
Anyways, it’s a pretty good costume drama in my opinion (although you can watch a lot of it on youtube with Chinese subtitles as well). The dialogue hints at “The Story of the Stone” at times. But that first concubine found in the well reminded me of the jokes about wells in Victor Segalen’s “René Lèse.”
A while back some theorists might be tempted to read a story about a harem of women subordinates that represent political alliances with various offices and regions fighting over the affections/resources of a patriarch/leader as some kind of national allegory. But it could just as well be watched like a “House of Cards” in the Yongzheng Emperor’s palace. Personally I think it’s a good time to vote stuff like this up. There’s always a chance they will import more.
All the best,
Sean Macdonald <smacdon2005 at gmail.com>
http://news.mtime.com/2015/03/23/1540727.html
美版《甄嬛传》开播遭吐槽
Netflix评分仅2.5星 惊鸿舞译为”野鹅飞翔”
2015-03-23 12:19:31 来源：Mtime时光网
美版《甄嬛传》Netflix评分仅2.5星，扳倒皇后只用了一集，沈眉庄安陵容40分钟内死完，滴血认亲保留20分钟，“贱人就是矫情”台词不见。
时光网讯 美版《甄嬛传》于近日登陆视频网站Netflix，不过，这部国人大爱的作品评分却低到不能忍：Netflix美国站是2.5星，加拿大站只有1星（满分为5星）。“76集被压成了6集，虽然保留了剧情轮廓，但片子太跳跃了，很好奇美国朋友们到底能不能看懂。”这是已经一睹为快的网友们，对美版《甄嬛传》的评价。
剧情：甄嬛一集扳倒皇后 眉庄陵容40分钟死完
美版《甄嬛传》的英文预告片是这样介绍作品的：“在那个传奇年代，整个国家都为一人所统治。一位绝世红颜，有机会得到梦寐以求的一切，但一入宫门深似海。危机四伏、背叛丛生、阴谋重重，面对忠义与爱情，抉择两难。根据真实传奇历史改编。”预告片最后一句“一个女子，对抗整个大清国，紫禁城一个不屈的灵魂”让中国网友目瞪口呆，这到底是甄嬛还是武则天？！
美版《甄嬛传》全部由美国团队操刀，故事采取倒叙结构，以“老年甄嬛”的记忆铺陈开来，在每集片头都有体现——这也是仅有的加戏，其他的全是删减版：斗华妃用了不到3集，沈眉庄、安陵容在40分钟内相继毙命，甄嬛扳倒皇后只用了1集，好在甄嬛和果郡王的感情戏比较完整，而长达20多分钟的“滴血认亲”让人不解，估计美国人很少见到这种“古代科技”，需要好好研究和讲述一番吧。
翻译：“贱人矫情”不见踪影 惊鸿舞惨变“野鹅飞翔”
该剧饱受争议的另外一点，就是翻译。美版《甄嬛传》采取的是中文对白加英文字幕的方式，有网友窃喜：“一想到美国观众也要像我们看美剧一样得盯着字幕看，心里就有一种‘大仇已报’的感觉。”
不过，当颇有文化深度的古典中文被翻译成英文后，那效果堪称不忍直视：“一丈红”成了“The scarlet
red（猩红）”，“惊鸿舞”变身“Flying Wild Goose”（飞翔的野鹅），皇后的名言“臣妾做不到啊”，被翻译成了“I truly
cannot bear it”（我简直不能忍），最出名的华妃金句“贱人就是矫情”则不见踪影。还有后宫嫔妃的等级也被翻译得七零八落，“常在”被译为First
Attendant（初级服务员），“华妃”被神译成 Consort Hua（配偶华）。
有部分看过该剧的美国朋友表示分不清谁是谁，逻辑也不太懂。除了文化差异外，这般大刀阔斧的删减和捉急的翻译，让这部国产良心剧失色太多。
作者：fantasy   编辑：饭太稀
by denton.2 at osu.edu on March 26, 2015
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