A Study Of Hybridity In Pearl S. Buck's Translation Of Shui Hu Zhuan: A Post-colonial Perspective

Pearl S. Buck (June 26,1892—March 6,1973) was an American writer. In 1932, she became the first female writer who won the Pulitzer Prize for her work—The Good Earth based on stories of China and Chinese farmers. Most importantly, she was the only American writer in the world to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature for a Chinese-subject novel.Cultivated in both Eastern and Western cultures, Pearl S. Buck had a good command of the two languages and cultures and functioned as the bridge of them. She was born in Virginia, America. When she was only four months old, her parents took her to China, where she spent most of her childhood and youth. During that time, she showed great interest in Chinese language and culture. It is for this reason that Buck, as an American writer, has written many books on typical Chinese subjects. Because of her great and outstanding achievements in writing, people have paid more attention to her status as a writer than her other status such as a socialist and a translator. To be sure, Pearl S. Buck was a famous writer who won the Nobel Prize. Therefore, there is no wonder that much more importance was attached to her writing achievements. Compared with researches on her writing career and literature works, researches on her English translation of Shui Hu Zhuan, one of the four greatest classic Chinese novels, have been substantially ignored. The main reason lies in the fact that her translation of such a Chinese classic received numerous criticism rather than praise. It has encountered innumerable doubts and disapproval as being "distorting" "misinterpreting" "ignorant" "a cultural trap" "nonsense" and so on.Pearl S. Buck was actually the first translator who put an unabridged edition of Shui Hu Zhuan into English. Her value as a translator was just reflected in her translation strategy that she consciously chose to introduce Chinese literature and culture to the West at a time when Western learning was progressively spreading to the East as well as her courage to challenge the rules of hegemonic language. Therefore, in view of the above, this research on Pearl S. Buck's translation strategy from the perspective of postcolonial translation theory is expected to present an unabridged and true image of Pearl S. Buck as a translator as well as help to give a more justified and comprehensive comment on her translation of Shui Hu Zhuan.This thesis first gives a brief introduction to the research background, and then specifies the significance and the framework of the present study.Next it follows the literature review which goes over the studies on hybridity in translation at home and abroad, and then gives a meticulous presentation of the studies on translations of Shui Hu Zhuan, Pearl S. Buck's translation of Shui Hu Zhuan in particular.The following chapter is the theoretical basis of this thesis, which, first of all, gives a brief introduction to the definition and development of hybridity, and then reviews the kernel ideas of post-colonial translation theory and its applicability for the present study. Finally, it discussed the inevitability and degree of hybridity in light of the post-colonial perspective.Next Pearl S. Buck and her translation of Shui Hu Zhuan are detailedly introduced, including her dual cultural identity, her writing and translating career, her translating motives and intentions of Shui Hu Zhuan and the acceptance of her translation of Shui Hu Zhuan at home and broad.Based on an in-depth investigation of the original text, the present study then probes into the hybridity in Pearl S. Buck's translation of Shui Hu Zhuan from three dimensions: linguistic, cultural and literary.The sixth chapter discusses the value and significance of Pearl S. Buck's practice in the translation of Shui Hu Zhuan and its implication for the contemporary Chinese-foreign translation practices as well as the international popularization of Chinese language and culture.Finally, it summarizes the major points and conclusions of the present study, and points out the deficiency and limitations so as to facilitate the studies in the future.