Liang Shiqiu's New Humanistic Thoughts In Translation Of Shakespeare

The Western drama has been translated and introduced into China since the late Qing dynasty and the early years of the Republic of China, under the influence of which Chinese drama makes its appearance. Shakespeare is the most famous playwright of Renaissance, whose works have great impact on Chinese literature. With a comprehensive view of the Chinese translation history, Liang Shiqiu is the only scholar that has completely translated the whole works of Shakespeare independently. However, researches into Liang usually are confined to the study of his creation of prose and his literary critics. His identity as a translator does not arouse enough attention.As Babbitt's student, Liang completely inherits the literary thoughts of Babbitt's New Humanism, which is embodied in not only his literary thoughts and critics, but also his viewpoints in translation. However, in the field of translation, the research on Liang's identity of translator from his literary viewpoint is far from enough. To make up such limitation, this thesis is to start with Liang's literary viewpoint, which takes "human nature" as cut-in point, based on the scrutinized analysis of the influence of his literary thought on his translation of Shakespeare, and holds the view that both his translation thoughts and his translation strategies are affected by his literary thought.Liang's faithful representation of Shakespeare's works made them greatly accepted and appreciated by Chinese readers. The readership doubled due to his successful translation of the original works. His New Humanistic thoughts were embodied in his translation of Shakespeare's dramas. It is far from being enough to make researches into his translation from the perspective of his literary thoughts. New Humanism provides a new insight into translation studies. As for the great influence of Liang's New Humanism on his translation activity, it is of great significance to make a survey on his translation from this angle. Thus, his role as a translator can be highlighted and his translation thoughts can be studied more comprehensively. What's more, borrowing the elements from New Humanism can enrich the scope of translation theory and facilitate the mutual development among different disciplines. Therefore, Liang's role as a translator can be more highlighted from the angle of New Humanism.Structurally, the paper consists of five chapters. Chapter One gives a general introduction to the life of Shakespeare and the translation of his works in China. It also gives a general review of Liang's translation of Shakespeare, then introduces New Humanism and claims that Liang's translation is influenced by New Humanism. Chapter Two takes "human nature", the core conception of New Humanism, as a cut-in point, analyzing that "reason" is the core of "human nature", and pointing out how Liang Shiqiu keeps "reason" in his choice of source texts. Chapter Three focuses on "human nature", particularly the eternal and universal one in Shakespeare's plays, by analyzing Liang Shiqiu's translation strategies. Chapter Four demonstrates "human nature" from the opposite side, which claims that "class nature" is not the essence of "human nature". Since there is no "class nature" in literature, Liang's translation in purpose is not to serve some class, but to render the eternal "human nature" in literary works. Chapter Five draws a conclusion about the significance of New Humanism in the field of Liang's translation.