On Ideological And Poetological Manipulation Beyond The Translated Text

Building on the polysystem theory of Descriptive Translation Studies, AndréLefevere, a representative of the Manipulation School proposes his rewriting theory, in which he indicates that translation is a rewriting of an original text and all rewritings reflect a certain ideology and a poetics as such manipulate literature to function in a given society in a given way. Not only has rewriting theory provided a fresh paradigm to translation studies, it has also been proved to be highly applicable in case studies.The ideological and poetological manipulation of translation can be classified into two aspects: one is on the textual level, and the other is beyond the translated text. Both of the aspects have great influence on the construction of image and the interpretation of the source text in the target language culture, but the attention given to study of the manipulation beyond the text is far from enough.Based on Lefevere’s rewriting theory, the author of this thesis attempts to analyze the main forms and strategies of the external manipulation of the three Chinese translations of The Importance of Being Earnest done by Qian Zhide, Yu Kuang-chung, and Zhang Nam-fung from China’s mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong respectively in the 1980s. By means of the comparative study, the author reaches a conclusion: the external manipulation of the translated text is greatly influenced by the dominant ideology and poetics in a given society at a given time, and such manipulation is more powerful and profound than that on the textual level, since they dominate the literary significance or value of the original in an all-round way, and as a result, influence readers’ reception of the translated text. Thus, due attention should also be given to the manipulation beyond the process of translating from the ideological and poetological perspectives in the study of translated literature.