On The English Translation Of Revolutionary Historical Novels From The Perspective Of Patronage

As a significant part of external publicity in the early days of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China,English translation of revolutionary historical novels played a role in transmitting China’s revolutionary experience and constructing positive national images.However,compared with its significance,attention from present studies toward the subject is insufficient,and even some inaccurate arguments can be seen.Therefore,it’s necessary to review revolutionary historical novels’ English translations.Through historical materials collection and textual analysis,this thesis examines the abridged translations of revolutionary historical novels in Chinese Literature and separate editions from Foreign Language Press.Relevant information is concluded into tables.Since separate editions from Foreign Language Press are full translations,they are selected as the main research material.Then,from the perspective of patronage constraints,this thesis analyzes relevant translations and investigates content deletions and alterations of the originals based on textual comparison to disclose the patron’s visibility in the translation of revolutionary historical novels.The following conclusions are gained:For the whole situation of the translation of revolutionary historical novels,due to the novels’ prominent political flavor,they were rarely translated by foreign translators and institutes.Instead,the translations were mainly produced in China during the Seventeen Year Period by Chinese Literature and Foreign Language Press.Limited by the magazine’s space,Chinese Literature selected core plots and deleted many secondary contents;in order to guarantee the readers’ understanding,introduction to the novels and synopsis of previous plots are widely seen at the beginning of the translations.As for the separate editions,they were generally revised based on translations from the magazine,which can be seen as a kind of rewriting.After analyzing the separate editions from four aspects—selection of the originals,pre-translation edition,translation and reprinting,it’s found that:(a)In the translation of revolutionary historical novels,the selection of originals was totally in the charge of the patron.Translators had little power in deciding what to translate.Though revolutionary historical novels have multiple revised editions,no obvious preference for the first edition or newly revised edition is found after verifying the translations’ source texts;(b)In Foreign Language Press’ s working pattern,pre-translation edition on Chinese originals is a significant way to filter out contents improper for the nation’s positive images and unsuitable for external publicity.Through comparison between the source texts and translations,it’s found that many plots about violence,love and sex,as well as those that are harmful to the nation,the Party and Chinese people’s positive images were deleted in the edition process to make the translation more purified and characters more ideal;(c)Translation criteria in Foreign Language Press can be concluded into two key factors—faithfulness and expressiveness.The translations are highly in line with the criteria.Nonetheless,translators still had the freedom to decide translation principles;(d)In the reprinting of revolutionary historical novels’ translations,revisions on the spelling of people and places’ names according to a new linguistic norm is found on one hand;on the other hand,content revisions according to revisions in the originals’ reprints are widely seen,which mainly involve sex,love and political plots and expressions.Such revisions are response to the changed ideology and poetics after the Cultural Revolution.Therefore,the English translation of revolutionary historical novels adequately reflects the patron’s influence on translation,under which the translations’ political characteristics were highlighted and literariness weakened,making the translations more suitable for external publicity.