SISU professor talks naturalistic literature and his translation of Mary Russell Mitford

 conversation called “Melt soul into nature: Mitford’s country life” was launched between Professor Wu Gang, deputy dean of Graduate Institute of Interpretation and Translation of Shanghai International Studies University (SISU), and Dr. Tan Zheng, an English professor from Fudan University, on March 20, 2016.

Professor Wu has recently published the first Chinese translation of Mary Russell Mitford’s Our Village which has been reprinted for 14 times during the 10 years after publication.

Combining with the content of the book, Wu first introduced the background and characteristics of naturalistic literature, pointing out that in naturalistic literature, nature was the protagonist instead of costar, and writers treated nature equally, even looked up to it instead of condescending to it. They regarded nature as their spiritual home, and through intensive observation and experience they built a bridge of souls with nature to achieve a peace of mind in the tumultuous world. Such a kind of literary genre which advocates nature and a gentle pace of life has a special revelation for us who are becoming more and more restless in a rapid pace of life.

Later, Wu deeply analyzed the aesthetic value of this book, combining with his realization when he translated it, and introduced how Mitford realized the soul redemption and transcendence of the real life with an aesthetic attitude.

Tan gave another kind of view. In view of the tradition of Euromerican prose, country life in British literature and scenery description in Chinese literature, he compared eastern and western conception of nature. He pointed out that most scenery in Chinese literature was served for people and this was really different from western nature writers’ observational study on nature.

The conversation ended in an audience’s reading and his thoughts of a classical part of Our Village.