Social Sciences in China Review

No.1, 2020

From “Creative Treason” to “Creative Deviation”: Random Thoughts on Reading and Translating Robert Escarpit’s “‘Creative Treason’ as a Key to Literature” (Abstract)

Fan Ruoen

Robert Escarpit’s concept of “creative treason” has had a profound influence on Chinese translation studies. Recently, it has become the topic of a heated academic debate between translation literature and medio-translatology. We therefore need to further explore the translation and understanding of the imported concept of “creative treason.” The concept is interpreted in Escarpit’s “‘Creative Treason’ as a Key to Literature,” which, although referred to, is not well-known in China. Analysis of this important article enables us to interpret the deep implications of “creative treason,” and gain a better understanding and exploration of the conceptual debate between medio-translatology and translation literature. We find that the translation of creative treason as chuangzaoxing panni(创造性叛逆) does not reflect Escarpit’s original intention. A possible replacement is chuangzuoxing pianli (创作性偏离).