Stylistic interference as creative agency: a case study of Su Manshu’s poetry translation

This article examines Su Manshu’s poetry translation against the backdrop of the critical transitional phase from classical to modern Chinese literature by introducing “stylistic interference” as both a theoretical framework and a methodological lens for analysis. Drawing on Geoffrey Leech’s stylistic theory and Sherry Simon’s notion of creative interference, this study posits stylistic interference as a deliberate act of alteration – one that reframes the original stylistic features, often at the expense of the formal integrity of the source text. Through close textual analysis, the article delineates three principal modes of stylistic interference: omission, transformation, and the introduction of new stylistic deviations. This study argues that Su Manshu leveraged these modes to simultaneously engage with Western poetic structures while reaffirming classical Chinese aesthetics. By so doing, this study proposes that stylistic interference operates not merely as a strategy of poetic domestication but as a constitutive means of asserting creative agency. This theoretical thinking moves beyond traditional binaries of fidelity and rewriting, contributing to translation studies and stylistics by advancing a systematic framework for examining stylistic transformation as creative rewriting in the act of poetry translation.