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<p>The translation of Chinese opera into English has been relatively unexplored by researchers compared to other literary genres, perhaps because of the displacement that occurs when transferring the content and aesthetic notions of various Chinese opera lyrics into English. Cantonese opera has gained widespread popularity in Guangzhou and Hong Kong in the last century, and its playscript lyrics undoubtedly serve important poetic and rhetorical functions when being rendered. The transadaptation of the “unfamiliar” elements in these specific texts corresponds to the grand theories of domestication and foreignisation, but this article discusses whether some of the foreignised elements should be resisted or compromised using literary transadaptation. To illustrate this, this article analyses two popular and representative operas, <i>The Peony Pavilion</i> (1956) and <i>The Reincarnation of the Red Plum</i> (1959). Both operas deal with the contemplation of human desire (versus that of the underworld) and offer an unusual perspective on love through life and death. As the notions of text tailoring (in relation to typology) and embedded cultural elements rely heavily on a range of translation and adaptation strategies, this article aims to reveal the degree of literary unfamiliarity involved in the transadaptation of the two operas into English.</p>

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Resistance and compromise: literary transadaptation of Cantonese opera plays in The Peony Pavilion and The Reincarnation Of The Red Plum

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月28日

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  • Kelly Kar Yue Chan

摘要

The translation of Chinese opera into English has been relatively unexplored by researchers compared to other literary genres, perhaps because of the displacement that occurs when transferring the content and aesthetic notions of various Chinese opera lyrics into English. Cantonese opera has gained widespread popularity in Guangzhou and Hong Kong in the last century, and its playscript lyrics undoubtedly serve important poetic and rhetorical functions when being rendered. The transadaptation of the “unfamiliar” elements in these specific texts corresponds to the grand theories of domestication and foreignisation, but this article discusses whether some of the foreignised elements should be resisted or compromised using literary transadaptation. To illustrate this, this article analyses two popular and representative operas, The Peony Pavilion (1956) and The Reincarnation of the Red Plum (1959). Both operas deal with the contemplation of human desire (versus that of the underworld) and offer an unusual perspective on love through life and death. As the notions of text tailoring (in relation to typology) and embedded cultural elements rely heavily on a range of translation and adaptation strategies, this article aims to reveal the degree of literary unfamiliarity involved in the transadaptation of the two operas into English.