Text 1: Critic Park argues that translations of classical Chinese poetry into English face an impossible task. The compression of Chinese characters, the absence of grammatical articles, the layered allusions to earlier texts — none of these survive translation. To read Du Fu in English, she contends, is to read something with at most a thematic resemblance to the original.
Text 2: Critic Singh accepts the linguistic obstacles but argues that Park's despair is excessive. Translation, even of classical Chinese, has produced English poetry of independent value; readers who know they are encountering a translator's work rather than the original gain access, however partial, to a tradition they would otherwise lack. Imperfect access, Singh contends, is still access.
Based on the texts, how would Singh (Text 2) most likely respond to Park's claim?
- Acheck_circle
She would accept the linguistic challenges while arguing that imperfect access is still meaningful access.
- B
She would deny that Chinese poetry has linguistic features distinct from English.
- C
She would propose that all translation be abandoned.
- D
She would agree that translation produces nothing of value.
Explanation
Singh accepts the linguistic obstacles but argues for the value of imperfect translation. B captures her position. A, C, and D contradict her.