Cantonese translations of the works of Shakespeare and Ben Jonson and early modern theatre in China and Hong Kong: A View from 2005

In 2005, the Centre for Translation of HKBU published two Cantonese translations of Shakespeare’s dramas, namely, The Comedy of Errors and King Lear, by Prof. Jane Lai. In 2010, her Cantonese translation of Othello was published. In 2012, Prof. Lai’s translation of Ben Jonson’s Volpone was performed on stage in Hong Kong as Volpana: A Comedy. The theatre company’s website suggests that it is “a feminist play” inspired by Jonson’s Volpone. According to the research of Dr. Shelby Chan, Jonson’s Volpone was previously translated by Mr. Rupert Chan and was performed in Hong Kong at least three times by Chung Ying Theatre in 1991. In other words, Jonson’s Volpone was translated and performed in Hong Kong at least twice since the 1990s. Comparing with Shakespeare, it can be safely said that Jonson’s works were much less translated into Chinese, whether it’s in the Chinese mainland, in Hong Kong, or in Taiwan. Preliminary research suggests that Ben Jonson exists more in Chinese in academic research and discussions rather than in translation. Even if there are translations of Jonson in Chinese, they are usually done in excerpts in academic studies written in Chinese. This paper attempts to explore how much Chinese readers/audience know about Shakespeare’s contemporaries through the example of Jonson, examining how Jonson was translated, exported, Abstract: represented, and presented on stage in the Chinese world.