귀도 비탈레(Guido Vitale)의 소화서(笑話書)『재미있는 중국 이야기(Chinese merry tales)』에 나타난 중국의 형상

Abstract

Westerners who arrived in China in the 19th century introduced Chinese culture to the West by compiling various books on Chinese language, Chinese literature, politics, religion, and art. Their research results under the name of ‘Folklore’ influenced the birth of today’s study of folklore and contributed to the birth of Chinese studies in the West. Chinese Merry Tales(1901) is a work compiled by Baron Guido Vitale, considered the greatest Chinese scholar of the 20th century in Italy, and is the first collection of Chinese stories compiled by a Westerner. This study considered two points regarding this book. First, the preface and system in Vitale’s works were analyzed to identify the characteristics of his folklore research. Unlike the early 19th century, when Chinese language textbooks were lacking and Chinese scriptures and novels were translated and annotations were used to learn the language, in the late 19th century, when Vitale was active, Chinese linguistic research had developed independently and Chinese language textbooks were available for all areas of the language such as conversation, grammar, and reading comprehension. In Chinese Folklore, Pekinese Rhymes(1896), Vitale annotated children’s songs and explained the meanings of words and phrases, and he presented the text of Chinese Merry Tales as a reading book for learning the Beijing dialect. It differs from contemporary Western research on Chinese studies in that it aims for an integrated study of literature and language. Second, the image of China that Vitale seeks to evoke was examined through an analysis of the translation pattern, jest type, and theme of Chinese Merry Tales. Vitale translated the title into English, but added humor to the story by highlighting the character’s characteristics and actions that were not clearly revealed in the Chinese title. He further translated the text into Beijing dialect, but explained in detail the compressed narrative of the original version of the story and added new content. This allows beginners of Chinese to access Chinese culture in an easy and fun way. In addition, many humorous stories designed to induce laughter without satire or ridicule were translated to convey information about the Chinese people’s laughter code to Westerners and convey to them an open and positive view of China. In addition, besides general content that caricatures those in power or exposes human weaknesses, Chinese Merry Tales also records stories of a husband who is afraid of his wife and content that ridicules people in Beijing, highlighting the uniqueness of Chinese culture experienced by the author.