On Limitations Of Even-zohar’s Polysystem Theory

In the 20 th century,“polysystem theory”,put forth by an eminent Israeli scholar Itamar Even-Zohar,enjoyed great popularity.This theory studies translation in the cultural context,thus achieving the cultural turn of translation studies and greatly broadening the research field of translation.However,after reading piles of documents,the author finds it imperfect.Just like other translation theories,this theory has its own limitations.So the author discusses them by taking translated novels in the Eastern Miscellany around the May Fourth Movement as an example,aiming to answer three questions: 1)what are the limitations of Even-Zohar’s polysystem theory? 2)How to prove the mentioned limitations? 3)With these limitations,what measures could be put forth to improve this theory?To begin with,the author reviews previous foreign and domestic studies on Even-Zohar’s polysystem theory.In a word,the appreciation for this theory is much more than the depreciation.Then the author illuminates the theory in a systematic way,including its definition and origin,its development,its main contents as well as its relation with translated literature.Next,it’s turn to touch the key viewpoint of this thesis,namely the third chapter which focuses on the demonstration of the limitations of Even-Zohar’s polysystem theory.To be more persuasive,the author selects the Eastern Miscellany as a case to prove the limitations.In this chapter,the author firstly introduces the magazine and then expounds the condition and status of translated novels in this magazine.Having made sure that the readers have gotten a knowledge of Even-Zohar’s polysystem theory and the Eastern Miscellany,the author begins to throw light on the three limitations of Even-Zohar’s polysystem theory(just name three in this thesis): absence of objectivity,absence of translator’s subjectivity and absence of extra-literary factors.In this thesis,the author will respectively demonstrate the three limitations from two aspects so as to enhance the reliability.Last but not least,it is expected that the thesis could enrich the treasure house of translation studies and it is also welcomed for all scholars to offer precious suggestions.