A Study On Xu Yuanchong’s Translation Of Chinese Poetry Into English: From The Perspective Of Pierre Bourdieu’s Sociological Theory

With the further development of the “cultural turn” in the discipline of translation studies, theconceptual framework of translation studies goes far beyond its original scope. Translation studies moreand more shows its multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural feature with the relevant areas of neighboringdisciplines constantly involved, referring to semiotics, psychology, philosophy, ethnology, sociology, etc.The notion of translation sociology comes up recently and soon attracts the interest and attention oftranslation scholars. Exploring translation problems from the perspective of sociology becomes quite a hottendency, especially with reference to Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological theory, which constructs a uniqueacademic framework and a brand new category of thinking for translation studies.Xu Yuanchong is one of the most influential scholars in modern translation circle in China withmultiple contributions to Chinese translation studies in both practical and theoretical ways. As a translator,Xu Yuanchong has translated no less than sixty Chinese and foreign literary masterpieces into Chinese,English and French during six decades of translation practice. As the active practitioner of thedissemination of Chinese culture, he successfully translates Chinese classical masterworks into the westernworld, gaining favorable comments and good reputation for the Chinese literary works and Chinesetranslators. Xu Yuanchong is also a constructive and productive theorist in translation studies, whoproposes an integrated system of translation theories based on his own practical experiences on translationas well as the quintessence of other Chinese scholars’ theories, which makes a great contribution to theconstruction of Chinese translation theory.The author of this dissertation takes Xu Yuanchong’s thoughts and activities on Chinese poetrytranslation into English as the research objective to explore the various social factors driven behind orlinked to the whole process of his translation in light of Pierre Bourdieu’s Sociological Theory. Three mainconcepts of Bourdieu’s theory are applied to give the minute discussion, which are field, habitus andcultural capital. This study shows that formation of Xu Yuanchong’s translation thoughts are driven andinfluenced by various social factors. As Bourdieu says, a kind of disposition is gradually formed in thethinking and behavior pattern of a translator when he/she enters into specific fields with the fundamental certifications, where he/she starts ceaseless struggle for maximum benefits or resources to obtain higherpositions within it. Xu Yuanchong is not an exception. In this dissertation, Boudieu’s concepts of “field”,“habitus” and “cultural capital” are mainly employed on the study of Xu Yuanchong’s views on poetrytranslation, trying to figure out the influencing factors on the production and dissemination of histranslation thoughts. Meanwhile, a detailed analysis is also made on Xu Yuanchong’s translation practice onChinese poetry, exploring the driven factors behind Xu’s selection preference of translation material,translation strategy and the reception of his translation. From the above study, it shows that the wholetranslation activities of Xu Yuanchong which renders Chinese poetry into English is under the influence ofvarious subjective and objective factors, such as the field of power, structure of field, his position in thefield, personal relationship with others, habitus he formed, cultural capital he possessed, etc.