Translation multiples of classical Chinese poetry

In translation studies, the contribution of translation multiples to theory and analysis has received infrequent attention. This chapter aims to fill the gap by demonstrating how reading translation multiples of the same text can go beyond textual comparison to reach a conception of translation grounded in heterogeneity. I argue that reading translation multiples recovers the heterogeneous nature of translation that might be concealed in the translation output, unsettles concepts and practices that normalise a hegemonic status of the original, and recognises that multilingual differences are not only a reason to translate but also a source of interlingual possibilities. In particular, the chapter examines interlingual possibilities by studying 15 English translations of the classical Chinese poem 靜夜思 Jìng yè sī (“Quiet Night Thoughts”) by Li Bai (726/ 1982 ) and 30 English translations of 春望 Chūn wàng (“Spring View”), another classical Chinese poem, by Du Fu (757/ 1979 ). The translation multiples of the two poems make possible a heterogeneous perspective for engaging multilingual differences in translation, as well as a discovery of how the first-person I , covert in Chinese but overt in English, can go beyond the confines of an equivalent but dichotomic pair.