What is it about?
This chapter introduces a series of poetry translation workshops which brought together Chinese and Scottish students to render classic Chinese poems into the Scots language. It describes the thinking behind the workshops and the benefits for participants, including cross-cultural dialogue and a greater understanding of literary histories and poetic techniques. It discusses how the workshops were run, and suggests potential lessons for teachers, poets and translators running similar translation workshops in academic and non-academic contexts.
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Why is it important?
The workshops discussed in this chapter not only demonstrate innovative academic and creative work, but are an example of how to bring together different languages, cultures and student groups on a multinational university campus. They reveal how student diversity can be directed towards student-driven learning about other cultures, fostering greater understanding and cooperation. The workshops also represent one of the first times Chinese poetry has been translated into Scots, a minority language in Scotland (other translations are mentioned in the chapter). The unique qualities which Scots vocabulary and grammar bring to translation of Chinese poets is explored in detail, and one of the aims of this chapter is to showcase the resources and outward-looking potential of Scots literature and language.
Perspectives
This chapter is my own reflection on the experience of running the Chinese Makars translation workshops. The workshops were an immensely rewarding experience for me and for the student participants, as we learned from each other about Scottish and Chinese languages, poetry and culture. At the same time friendships were built and together we crafted beautiful, entertaining and sometimes appropriately raucous Scots versions of some of the most famous Chinese poems, by writers such as Du Fu and Li Bai. The chapter celebrates these translations and suggests how similar workshops might be run with community groups such as asylum seekers. The process of translating classic Chinese poets has also influenced my own practice as a publishing poet, and I reflect on the impact of ancient Chinese poetics on my own work, particularly my book-length poem "Ben Dorain: a conversation with a mountain".
Garry MacKenzie
University of St Andrews
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This page is a summary of: ‘Chinese Makars’: a Chinese-Scots Poetry Translation Workshop, February 2025, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004723832_008.
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