Literary Translation And World Literature Map Remodeling

Translation has long been regarded as an important means to promote mutual understanding between different cultures. Therefore, literary translation has long been taken for granted as a witness to the intimate relationship between two cultures. A seemingly reasonable logic follows that there is a causal relationship between translation and cultural dialogue. And this mindset has resulted in the obsession of focusing on fidelity in both traditional Chinese and Western translation theories. However, the betrayal of translation that abounded in the history of translation reveals that the causal relationship between translation and cultural dialogue is just a translation Utopia which tries but in vain to obstruct another role that translation plays in cultural confrontation: cultural alienation.By targeting on the literary translation of English and American literature during 1949-1966, this thesis raises questions as follows: in a historical context from 1949-1966 in which the Chinese culture highlighted the necessity to split apart from the Western culture, why the translation of English and American literature was still carried out? Who translated? How? What was the relationship between the translated literature and the source literature? How was the translated literature accepted? In the present historical context when the cultural dialogue between China and the West has been reopened, all these questions are of high research value as to reflecting the literary and cultural exchange, pondering upon the present literary and cultural exchange, rethinking the relationship between translated literature and the world literature, the rewriting of the history of translated literature. However, the research history shows that the translation of English and American literature during 1949-1966 has not been given enough attention, and the modest research in the past is almost carried out from the standpoint of the traditional translation theory in which fidelity counts most.By using the literary relationship between Chinese culture and the foreign culture as the basic framework, applying the theory of translation studies from a cultural perspective, this thesis aims to examine the translation, influence and acceptance of English and American literature within the historical context in which China and the West were on hostile terms. By synthesizing historical description with theoretical interpretation, general description with case study, comparing the translation of the literature of the former Soviet Union and the translation of English and American literature, the source literary world and the world created by translated literature, the perspective of the power of translation and the individual perspective, this thesis attempts to reveal the complex response of the Chinese receiving culture to the English and American literature, the cultural role that the translation of English and American literature plays, and its significance in the history of Chinese culture.This thesis holds that the translation of English and American literature during 1949-1966 was influenced by the literary perspectives of the former Soviet Union and determined by China's cultural and political logic which was rooted in the designing of the confronting relationship between Chinese national culture and English and American culture. And this location thus decided that the purpose of translating English and American literature was not to promote mutual understanding, and the translating act was a non-literary political strategy. Through cultural screening, the translation of English and American literature attempted to establish a world of the other which undoubtedly was far from the source world. However, thanks to the independence of those really great translated literary works, a world that searched for great humanities in literature was fostered in the sub-stream of history. And this is the real meaning of this translation history to literature.