The Chinization Of Eugene O’Neill’s Dramas Translation

The Chinese translation of foreign literature is constrained by the Chinese social context and manipulated by power and ideologies.In addition,it also has to cater to the inherent needs of Chinese reality so as to become a part of Chinese culture.Chinese translation,therefore,can be seen as an important tool for shaping the subject identity of Chinese culture,contributing to the formation of Chinization.The introduction of O’Neill’s dramas to China in the 1930 s was a process of Chinzation.In order to satisfy stage demands,and the tastes of readers as well as audiences,translators such as Gu Zhongyi and Hong Shen adapted some of O’Neill’s dramas to a certain degree.Combined with Lefevere’s manipulation theory,this thesis aims at studying the Chinization in the translation of O’Neill’s dramas in the 1930 s and 1940 s,and analyzing several aspects of these dramas,centering on their story backgrounds,stage directions,character portrayal and lines.The study reveals that the translators abundantly adapt background elements which are inaccessible to this target culture,localizing the names and titles in the original text so as to conform to their cultural allusions.To a better detail,in order to retain most of the religious content and enhance the acceptability of Chinese audiences,the translators employ the change of original setting,Chinizing character shaping and plot narration while retaining the core meaning of the source text.