Lu Xun's Translation And Modern Chinese Literature

This thesis is a tentative endeavor to synthesize the merits of the achievements in studies on Lu Xun both as a translator and as a writer, point out the role his translation had played in his contributions to modem Chinese literature and provide some reference for the multi-perspective study of Lu Xun's translation as well as the studies of the literary figures with dual capacity.Study of Lu Xun has a history of seventy years, ranging from the study of his thinking, essays, novels to comparative study of him with other writers or thinkers. As the founder of modern Chinese literature, Lu Xun has contributed to modem Chinese literature in many ways such as fostering the development of modem Chinese children's literature, the establishment of brand new literary and art theories, the formation and maturation of modem Chinese language. The contributions he made had countless ties with his translation. As a matter of fact, Lu Xun is a translator in the first place, who began his literary career from translation and also ended there.To start with, the thesis reviews the study of Lu Xun, especially as a translator. The thesis also reviews the study into literary figures with dual capacity of both translator and writer and their unique contributions to the formation and development of a literature.Then, enlightened by Itamar Even-Zohar's Polysystem theory, the author of the thesis expounds the role translated literature played in a literary system, pointing out that the May Fourth period witnessed another upsurge in China's translation cause which facilitated the birth and development of modem Chinese literature.The thesis then elaborates on the influence of Lu Xun's translation to modem Chinese literature from three perspectives. First, his translation of foreign children's literature itself had enriched Chinese children's literature. In the process of translation his research on children's age characteristics and their psychological features impelled him to do some theoretical research, finally laying a theoretical foundation for Chinese children's literature—to create "beneficial" and "interesting" works, and importance should be attached both to their educational function and children's powers of reception which called for a simple and easy language and diversified forms. Lu Xun's translationinspired other literary and art workers whose creation contributed to the development of modern Chinese children's literature.Lu Xun's translation of literary and art theories was instructive to the development of modern Chinese literature. He had twice concentrated on the translation in this field. The first was his translation of Japanese theorist Kuriyagawa's works, which influenced Lu Xun's creative writing of Wild Grass, and contributed to the construction of Chinese literary and art theories at that time. Lu Xun's translation of scientific literary and art theories was the joint result of some objective historical reasons and his own will. Realizing the weak theoretical grounding of the literary and art workers at that time (especially some "revolutionary writers"), himself included, and the empty and dull debate over "revolutionary literature", Lu Xun put his hands to the translation of literary and art theories, mainly those from Soviet Union, which played an instructive role in raising the literary and art workers' theoretical level, promoting the development of revolutionary literature and the proletarian revolutionary literary and art movement.Lu Xun's views on language, especially his assertion of "Europeanization" under the influence of his translation, had fostered the formation and development of modern Chinese language which constituted and pushed forward modern Chinese literature. The "europeanized" Chinese resulted from "literal translation" or even "hard translation" was, in a certain sense, the embryo of modern Chinese language, whose maturation bore much influence from Lu Xun's translation and creation.Based on the study above, the author of the thesis finally comes to the conclusion that Lu Xun' s translation has played a significant role in his contributions to modern Chinese literature.