|
|
|
| W. S. Merwins Translation of Sir Gawain and
the Green Knight: a Posthumanist Inquiry |
| Department of English, Tamkang University |
|
|
|
|
Abstract My paper is a discussion of the anonymous Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight based on a recent translation by the North American poet W. S. Merwin. A scathing review that appeared in Londons The Times shortly after Merwins translation was published criticised it among other things for its “barbarities of political correctness” including Merwins “animal rights activist” portrayals of the hunt scenes. My paper responds to this criticism in light of the questions it raises in spite of itself about reading and translating texts from a posthumanist perspective. Such perspective upsets the intentional fallacy of humanist discourse of ascribing intent to texts according to humancentred interests as opposed to otherthanhumancentred interests and concerns.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| \[1\]Garner, A.Of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation by W. S. Merwin \[M\].U.K.: Bloodaxe Press, 2003.\[2\]Wolfe, C. Philosophy and Animal Life［M］. New York: Columbia UP, 2008.\[3\]Trapp, J. B. Medieval English Literature. The Oxford Anthology of English Literatur［M］. London and New York: Oxford UP, 1973.\[4\]Merwin, W. S. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. A New Verse Translation \[M\]. New York: Alfred E. Knopf, 2009.\[5\]Cavalieri, P. The Animal Debate: A Reexamination. ［M］∥ In Defense of Animals. The Second Wave. Carlton, Vic.: Blackwell, 2006.\[6\]White, L.The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis［M］∥ Environmental Ethics. Readings in Theory and Application. Belmont, Ca.: Thomson Wadsworth, 2005. \[7\]Greenblatt, S. G. , Caro，l. T. C. The Norton Anthology of English Literature［M］. New York: Norton,2006. \[8\]Abrams, M. H., Gen, E. E. The Norton Anthology of English Literature［M］. New York: Norton, 1993.\[9\]Burrow, J. A. ，Thorlac， T.P. A Book of Middle English ［M］. Oxford and Cambridge,Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1992. |
| [1] |
. null[J]. Journal of Jiangsu University（Social Science Editi, 2012, 14(3): 22-29. |
|
|
|
|
2012, Vol. 14 
