Paratexts Studies On Translated British And American Literature In The Seventeen Years(1949-1966)

Seventeen years after the founding of the People’s Republic of China(1949-1966)was a special period for the introduction and development of foreign literature in China.The translation of literature in Britain and America,which were in contrast with China’s political form,was particularly marked,showing extreme changes.This was closely related to China’s political background,translation policies and literary and artistic policies at that time.This phenomenon is well reflected by the translated works’ paratexts(preface,postscript and content summary,etc.).However,researchers mainly focus on studies on translation history,translators and translated works at the seventeen years,and study on paratexts at that time is rare.This paper,from the perspective of descriptive translation studies and data processing,divides the auxiliary texts of British and American literature in 17 years into four categories according to their different attitudes towards them in the Chinese literary field: positive,critical,both positive and critical,and no obvious evaluation.Then,the author combines description and case study to explain why some works are praised,criticized,or why they are translated without a clear evaluation.In the end,this paper summarizes the special translation and introduction phenomenon of British and American literature in China by combining the political background,translation policy and literary policy of China at that time.This paper finds that the introduction of British and American works are mainly affected by the political context,translation policy and art policy,and this is well reflected in these works’ paratexts: works that praise Socialism,support the people and the poor are welcomed,and works that praise Capitalism and call for enjoyment of the nobility or the colonial ideology are clearly criticized by the translator or the publisher.Through the writing of this paper,the author,from the perspective of paratexts,which few people have noticed,provides evidence for the research on the translation history of China in the 17 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China,and hopes to enrich the political,historical and cultural context of translation criticism.