Crossing boundaries in an age of post-translation studies

Abstract The cycle of symphonic songs Das Lied von der Erde was based on Die Chinesische Flöte , a German version of classical Chinese poems. As a result, Die Chinesische Flöte crossed the boundary between literature and music, encompassing intralingual, interlingual, and intersemiotic translations. While comparative textual analysis reveals that these two works made changes to the original Chinese texts, intersemiotic translation illustrates that the borders between verbal texts and nonverbal works are fluid. This post-translation study traces the translation context of Das Lied , maps Die Chinesische Flöte ’s transitions between literary and musical polysystems, and traces Das Lied ’s afterlife in the creation of new artworks. It concludes that poetry, music, and other art forms can mutually translate, complement, and become afterlives of one another.