This paper is divided into two parts. Part I gives a brief survey of
English translations of modern Chinese poetry in the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries. The select translations—their foci and chronology—not only delineate
a historic trajectory but also suggest broader geopolitical and sociocultural
implications. Part II proposes that we understand “translatability” as “elective
affinity.” Borrowed from German letters and science, “elective affinity” is an
essential component of translation across cultures, and it is illustrated with two
sets of examples: the encounters between classical Chinese poetry and modern
American poets, and those between modern Chinese poetry and Anglo-American
translators.

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• Modern Chinese Poetry: Translation and Translatability