A Meeting Point: Far Eastern Poetry in “Anthologie de l’Amour Asiatique” by a Middle East Researcher A.-M. Thalasso

Abstract

The paper aims at introducing and presenting a general introduction of the anthology of Asian love poetry compiled by a French researcher of the Middle East Adolphe-Marie Thalasso (1858?–1919) «Anthologie de l’Amour Asiatique» (Paris, 1906), as well as at giving an outline and basic analysis of the representations of the poetry of the Far East. Covering a vast region from Afghanistan to South-East Asia, this is the first poetry collection presenting so many literary traditions. The reference base makes Thalasso’s anthology a concise encyclopedia of the related research. Basing on the comparison of Thalasso’s translations with the originals and other translations, an attempt is made to trace the translation sources (with a focus on Chinese and Korean literature parts). The paper will analyze the general character of the contents and the features of the introductory notes to make a conclusion on the impact of the anthology in relation with the specifics of the time, also touching upon the issue of the early translations of Asian poetry as a phenomenon.

Keywords:

early translations of Asian poetry, poetical anthologies, Asian poetry collections, «Anthologie de l’Amour Asiatique», A.-M. Thalasso, Chinese poetry, Korean poetry, “Namhun Taepyeong-ga”, Judith Gautier “Le livre de Jade”