A Study On James Legge’s Translation Of Lun Yu From The Perspective Of Manipulation Theory

Translation study has turned into the cultural perspective from the linguistic perspective since the1970s. The "cultural turn" provides a new direction of translation research and exerts a profound influence on the academic world. Manipulation theory, one of the significant and representative theories in the "cultural turn", is stated by Andre Lefevere in his book Translation, Rewriting and the Manipulation of Literary Fame. According to Manipulation theory, translation is a rewriting of an original text and is manipulated by ideology, poetics and patronage.Lun Yu translated by James Legge (a famous British sinologist and missionary) is one of the most classical and representative English versions of Lun Yu at that time in the West. Through the study of James Legge’s translation of Lun Yu in light of Manipulation theory, this thesis aims to analyze James Legge’s translation purpose and his translation process, and to reveal the manipulative factors of his translation.With Manipulation theory as its theoretical framework, the influences of ideology, poetics and patronage on James Legge’s translation of Lun Yu are analyzed respectively with the descriptive method. Firstly, the author mainly explores how ideology exerts influence on James Legge’s translation purpose and his translation methods. In terms of translation purpose, social ideology and personal value impact his translation purpose separately. In terms of translation methods, James Legge adopts many translation methods in the text and off the text. In the text, he uses translation methods including literal translation, amplification and transliteration. Off the text, James Legge adds annotations during the process of translation and makes the index at the end of translation so as to make up for the disadvantages of translation methods utilized in the text. Secondly, the poetological manipulation in terms of the diction and the form are explained in detail. The poetological manipulation of James Legge’s translation style is studied through the analysis of the Victorian literature poetics, the Biblical translation poetics and Legge’s education background. Thirdly, this thesis elucidates the manipulation of patronage in terms of ideological component and of economic component. The influences of the London Missionary Society and of the Jardine brothers on James Legge’s translation are discussed. Therefore, it comes to the conclusion that James Legge’s translation is manipulated by ideology, poetics and patronage during the whole process from the selection of original text to the translation completion.