A Glamorous Re-enactment of the Past: Ang Lee’s Rendition of Eileen Chang’s Lust, Caution

Drawing on the Jewish Cabbalistic mysticism, Walter Benjamin elevates the task of the translator to the level of the sublime because the translator complements what is lacking in the original and sheds light on the pure language underlying the original text. Benjamin’s theory of translation proves to be fruitful when it is applied to Ang Lee’s rendition of Eileen Chang’s Lust, Caution if we regard the adaptation of the novella as a translation from words into audio-visual representation. Deplorably, Eileen Chang’s Lust, Caution falls short of our expectation when it comes to the description of female psychology and sexuality. In the incomplete écriture féminine, Chang leaves out many essential details; thus, Wang Chia-chih’s sexual awakening and her heart-felt response to her copulation with Mr. Yee remain obfuscated and opaque to the readers. Fortunately, the “translator” Ang Lee takes advantage of his sophisticated and enlightening mise-en-scène to complement the physiological, psychological and sexual interaction between Chia-chih and Mr. Yee. With his artistic rendition, the novella Lust, Caution becomes a well-rounded écriture féminine in which the language of the body is allowed to flow freely and spontaneously, revealing how a woman reacts to her own sexuality. In terms of Benjamin’s elaboration on the task of the translator, Ang Lee has attained the goal of revealing the “pure language” by means of his quintessential rendition. 摘要:德國文化評論家華特 · 班雅明秉持著猶太卡巴拉神秘教義,而將翻譯者的地位提昇到非常崇 高的境地: 他認為譯者的工作並不是忠實呈現原著,而是要補原著之不足,並且闡明潛藏在原 著底層、接近神格的「純粹語言」。如果我們將李安改編張愛玲的小說<色 · 戒>視為一種 將文字轉換成聲光影音的翻譯,那麼班雅明的理論絕對可以幫助我們理解這兩樣不同媒介轉 換的過程。很可惜地,在張愛玲的原著中,對於女性的心理與性自覺閃爍其詞,做為女性書 1 A note on the translation of the Chinese names: For most of the Chinese names of the characters in Eileen Chang’s novella, I will stick to the common practice of putting the family name in front of the first name, as is common with the Chinese custom. However, for internationally renowned figures, like Eileen Chang and Ang Lee, I will adhere to the internationally established practice of putting the first name in front of the last name.