Interpreting Omission In Life And Death Are Wearing Me Out:A Manipulative Perspective

Since Mo Yan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012, he and his works arouse more concerns in the world. Besides the distinct charm of Mo Yan’s works, Howard Goldblatt’s translation plays an extremely important role in his success. Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out is one of the novels which won many international awards, and sets a very good example for the translation and dissemination of contemporary Chinese literature. When the English version by Howard Goldblatt was published in America in 2008, it enjoyed popularity in the west. So far, the related studies on Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out mainly focus on the stylistic or narratological aspects.This thesis aims to study the omissions in Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out from the perspective of manipulation theory. This research is a descriptive one. By carefully comparing the translated version with the original text, the research will try to exhaustively dig out the omissions in the English version, make a classification of all them, and then discuss the motivation of adopting the strategy of omission in translated version. Through this case study, the thesis intends to explore the cultural and manipulative factors behind omission and deletion, and probe into the successful factor of the translated version. Through research, the author finds that total deleted and omitted parts have 55,464 Chinese characters, which occupies the one-eighth of the original version. The omissions in the English version are classified into four categories: linguistic, cultural, stylistic, and political levels. The motivation behind these omissions in the English version is complicated. Apart from the difference of language structure and cultural system, it is closely related to the dominant ideology, poetics, editors, and the translator’s personal preferences, etc. In order to make the cultural communication successful and the translated version accepted, these manipulative factors like dominant ideology, poetics, editors, and the translator’s personal preferences should be all taken into consideration.At last, the thesis intends to enrich the research perspectives of Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out, and shed some light on the introduction of contemporary Chinese literature into the world.