Great Works I: Remixing Memory

There are different versions of “The Songs of Ch’ang Kan” written by different narrators. They have explained the main idea of the poem in different ways by using different words and sentences. “That Parting at Ch’ang Kan” by Fletcher, here, the narrator has said that “At fourteen years lo! I became thy wife”. This sentence means that, the wife is saying to her husband that she has become his wife at fourteen years old. In another version of the same poem, “Ch’ang Kan” by Amy Lowell, the narrator has said, “At fourteen, I became the wife of my lord”. In this sentence, the wife is saying the same thing that, she has become his wife at fourteen years old. However, here the narrator has used different words, for example, he has said “my lord”, and it shows much respect than saying, “I became thy wife”. “I became thy wife” is too general and it does not show any kind of importance.  On the other hand, “my lord” shows some respect and some importance. “Ch’ang-an Memories” by Wai -Lim Yip, here the narrator said, “We wished to stay together like dust and ash”. In this sentence, we can see that the wife is so desperate to be with her husband. The voice of this sentence sounds adorable and desperate but it is a bit straightforward. On the other hand, another version by Shigeyoshi Obata -“Two Letters From Chang – Kan – I” – the narrator said the same thing but in a different way, “And beg you to love me till we were dust and ashes”. He has said it in a more dramatic way, and here the voice sounds deep, more adorable and more desperate. Among all the versions I like the one by Shigeyoshi Obata “Two Letters From Chang-Kan-I” because here the voice of the narrator sounds very adorable and deep.