INTERVIEW/New translation of 'The Canterbury Tales' marks milestone in Taiwan medieval studies

By Chao Yen-hsiang, CNA staff reporter

Geoffrey Chaucer is known as the "Father of English Literature" or the "Father of English Poetry" for his medieval classic "The Canterbury Tales," a work that encouraged writers of his time to write in Middle English rather than French.

Over six centuries later, Francis So (蘇其康) released in October the first complete Chinese translation of "The Canterbury Tales" by a Taiwanese translator.

In an interview with CNA in late November, So said Chaucer wrote during a period when French still dominated literary culture.

The publication of "The Canterbury Tales" helped popularize Middle English, while its poetic techniques shaped later writers, including Shakespeare, he said.

So hopes the new edition will inspire more young researchers to build and carry forward Taiwan's tradition of medieval Western literary studies.

Reliving the pilgrimage

So noted that "The Canterbury Tales," written in the late 14th century, depicts a pilgrimage of 30 Christians traveling from London to Canterbury to venerate St. Thomas Becket.

The pilgrims take turns telling stories along the way, forming the work's narrative frame.

Although Chaucer originally planned 120 tales -- two for each pilgrim on both the outward and return journeys -- only 24 survive, preserved mainly in two manuscripts.

So based his translation primarily on the more complete Ellesmere manuscript and consulted the Hengwrt manuscript, which scholars believe reflects the earlier state of Chaucer's text.

So said he adopted "fidelity" as his guiding principle, preserving original syntax, word order and imagery whenever possible.

"If the original uses a noun, I try to translate it as a noun. Sometimes reversing the sentence order makes the Chinese more fluent, but it weakens fidelity to the text," he said.

To help contemporary Taiwanese readers navigate the unfamiliar medieval world, So included extensive annotations, particularly on material culture and institutional structures -- a key feature distinguishing his version from the earlier translations.

So credits his sensitivity to historical and cultural nuance to the rigorous comparative-literature training he received in the United States, where he studied multiple languages and took courses in translation studies.

Born in 1948, So earned his bachelor's degree at National Taiwan University's Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures and later received a Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Washington in Seattle.

He is currently an emeritus professor at National Sun Yat-sen University, where he has taught since 1983.

So said translation involves far more than "looking up words in a dictionary."

To better reconstruct the medieval pilgrimage, he visited the British Museum in 2023 to consult historical materials and traveled portions of the route described in the text.

This fieldwork, he said, helped him handle place names and cultural references with greater accuracy.

Tradition and legacy

So said "The Canterbury Tales" continues to resonate today, noting that contemporary British writer Zadie Smith drew inspiration from "The Wife of Bath's Tale" for her play "The Wife of Willesden."

Elsewhere, J.K. Rowling has also acknowledged that "The Tale of the Three Brothers" in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is an allusion to "The Pardoner's Tale."

Reflecting on his academic career in Taiwan, So said there were no scholars specializing in medieval literature when he studied at NTU, and he resolved to help establish the discipline when he undertook graduate studies in the U.S.

"When we founded the Taiwan Association of Classical, Medieval and Renaissance Studies (TACMRS) in 2007, that meant the establishment of a tradition," he said.

The association's annual conference has since become a key event for domestic scholars and students in the field.

Nearly two decades after the founding of TACMRS, So said he is heartened to see more emerging scholars entering the field.

He hopes the new translation will lower the barrier of entry for readers and encourage more people to pursue medieval literary studies.

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