Fantasy And Reality: A Cultural Study Of Science-fiction Translation In Twentieth-century China

The present study aims to research into the translation and reception of science fiction as a popular genre in 20^th-century China from a cultural and historical perspective. Five representative translated texts are selected from different phases of development in examining the one-hundred-year history of SF translation from 1900 to 1999, with the view of finding out the contextual factors that had determined when and how SF works were translated and published in China, identifying the major tendencies in translating SF literature in the one hundred years, and examining the impact of SF translation on original writings.The dissertation consists of five sections. The first section, Introduction, provides the theoretical context, a survey of the descriptive model of translation studies as a proper theoretical apparatus in translation history research, a literature review of previous research on translation history and SF translation, the statement of the research question, and a preview of the whole dissertation.Part One examines the necessary background about science fiction, including the name and nature of this literary genre, a brief history of science fiction in the west, and an account of its development in China from 1900 to 1999.Part Two makes an in-depth exploration into SF translation in 20^th-century China in a case study format. Five translations representing the major stages of development of SF translation will be discussed at some length following a chronological order: Yuejie Lüxing (《月界旅行》, 1903) rendered by Lu Xun, which epitomizes the first wave of SF translation in Late Qing and Early Republic period (roughly from 1900 to 1919); Weilai Shijie ( 《未来世界》, 1934) translated by Zhang Yiping and Chen Ruoshui, which represents an exceptional case in the low-tide period of SF translation between 1920s and 1940s; Shuilu Liangqi Ren ( 《水陆两栖人》, 1958) rendered by Chen Ji and Zou Xizhen, which exemplifies the second wave of SF translation in the 1950s; Wo, Jiqiren ( 《我,机器人》, 1981) translated by GuoQiang, Chen Wen and Saide, which eptimozies the third wave of SF translation in the late 1970s and early1980s; and Shenjing Langyouzhe ( 《神经浪游者》, 1999) translated by Lei Liming, which embodies the fourth wave in the 1990s. In each of the case studies, there will be an introduction of the source text and its author, but attention will be directed to the contextual analysis of the translated text, focusing on the socio-cultural, literal, and translational norms of the historical period and their impact on the general selection and translation of science fiction at that time. Through the case studies, it is made explicit that alterations in the contextual variables surrounding SF translation, including the translator, the readers, the cultural ideologies, the literary and translation trends, produce significant changes in nearly all the aspects of translation activity, particularly text selection and translation strategies. What's more, reconstructing all these contextual factors also provides possible explanations for the four upsurges of SF translation in the 20^th century and the tendencies in different periods.Part Three discusses some specific topics under the title "SF translation and the spread of the genre in China", which are concerned with the cultural role played by SF translation in the literary evolution of the genre in China. In this part, discussions are centered upon SF translation as the trigger for the birth of the genre in the Late Qing period, the impact of translation upon original writings in different phases of development of Chinese SF, the conceptions or misconceptions of "science fiction" and their imprint on the policies of translation, and the translation of cultural elements and neologisms in science fiction. Through these discussions, we can see SF translation not only occupy a primary position in Chinese SF literature, shaping the modes of writing and poetics of the field, but serves as the main source of new themes and techniques.In the last section, Conclusion, a brief review and summery of the whole dissertation is made, followed by some theoretical reflections as well as suggestions for future research. It is shown that the descriptive model in studying SF translation might also be usable and operative in the case of other popular genres.