On Gile’s Translation Choices In Light Of Field And Habitus Theory

Known as the pinnacle of classical Chinese novels, Liao Zhai Zhi Yi is widely spreadat home and abroad owing to its terse style and distinctive connotation. Among its Englishversions stands out Giles’ Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, a version with the moststories translated so far. It is fundamental in the dissemination of Liao Zhai Zhi Yi aroundthe world. However, research on this version relatively legs behind, which calls for morededicated work.Ever since the Cultural Turn of Translation Studies in1980s, more attention has beendrawn to translators, hence influencing the research on Giles’ Strange Stories from aChinese Studio. Studies have been carried out focusing either on translator subjectivity inthe process of translation, or on the constraints translators are faced with, such as thehistorical context or ideologies, etc. Both perspectives improve our understanding of thefeatures of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, but they still have limitations due totheir own emphasis. To provide a solution to the dichotomy between subjectivism andobjectivism, Bourdieu, a French sociologist, put forward his Field-Habitus theory bystressing the mutual “construction” between the individual and society through practice.This integrated perspective enables us to better analyze Giles’ Strange Stories from aChinese Studio by exploring the interaction between the social background and his socialtrajectories, which will deepen our understanding of his translation choices.To be specific, this thesis analyzes the constraints on Giles’s translation choices inStrange Stories from a Chinese Studio from the collective translation habitus, theinternalized disposition of the translation field of Chinese Classic novels in1870s.Meanwhile, Giles’ social trajectories, mainly his early life experience and educationbackground, will also be probed to reveal his personal habitus, namely his personal tasteand interest, in order to find its influence on his translation choices.Based on the analysis above, the thesis comes to its conclusion: Giles’s translationchoices in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio are constrained by the translation field’scollective translation habitus, with which Giles reaches a certain convergence on specifictranslation methods. The reason lies in the influence of the historical conditions at that time. Yet differences also emerge because of his personal habitus, represented by his choice totranslate Liao Zhai Zhi Yi, the collection of short stories written in Classical Chinese, andby his choice of relatively “faithful” translation to the original. Reasons of these translationchoices can be traced back to his family background and early education.The thesis shows that Bourdieu’s Field-Habitus theory, which combines the socialenvironment and the individual’s social trajectory, provides a new vision for TranslationStudies. It helps us better analyze and interpret the translator’s distinctive nature of histranslation practice.