| Research BackgroundWith the rapid commercial development of our society, rich materials are dividing people into different consumption custom groups because of their personal interests, financial conditions, or social trends. The kinds of consumption include cultural and recreational consumption. The development of international communication has popularized the theory of "cultural pluralism", which has given rise to an influx of exotic cultures in turn. But the good and the bad are intermingled.Many people, especially the youngsters, open-minded, but having no good sense of distinguishing between dross and essence, cannot resist the temptation of strange and unusual recreations. So far as reading is concerned, people are getting more interested in fashion magazines, Kunfu fiction, biographies of economists, etc.. Few and few people would like to read the so-called "classics", which, according to their ideas, are relatively long and seemingly useless, though in fact, most of which are thought-provoking and aesthetically worthwhile. As for foreign literature classics, their translated versions play an important role in cultural exchange, besides the beneficial factors that have been mentioned above. Fortunately, some scholars have gradually noticed the phenomena and realized the seriousness of neglecting classics. They have been appealing for the attention to classics for the whole society.Research PurposeAs reading foreign literature classics is of great importance, the purpose of this dissertation is to:1. analyze the factors that influence the popularity of classic foreign novels;2. discuss relevant factors concerning translation;3. put forward the idea of translation standard;4. appeal to the departments and persons concerned to strive for the quality oftranslation; and 5. provoke readers' interest in classics.Research SignificanceJane Eyre is one of the most widespread famous works by the British female novelist Charlotte Bronte. It has been widely known and welcomed by our Chinese readers since 1930s, but was banned officially in the whole nation in the "Cultural Revolution" (1966 -1976) because of the so-called "bourgeois ideology". Fortunately, during the first twenty years after the Reform and Opening-up, it was translated again and again, and people were becoming even more and more enthusiastic about it. But things still changed a bit in the later years for the "multicultural elements", esp. in the 21st century. In fact, the favorable or unfavorable turns do not only happen to Jane Eyre. Many of the translated foreign classic novels have experienced the ups and downs in our country. This dissertation is based on the analysis of Jane Eyre because of the author's personal fancy for it. The reasons for its popularity and rejection are also explanatory to other novels.This dissertation has discussed about the various translation standards and put forward somewhat different ideas of "expressiveness", which is more comprehensive than the widely accepted Yan Fu's "truthfulness and expressiveness", or term it "being conveyable", to discriminate between the two ; and "being flavoursome", to match "being conveyable", substituting "elegance". Though this "standard" may not be very suitable or correct, or it even cannot be called a "standard", the aim of it is to provoke further discussing about the translation standards.Basing on the research methods of interviewing scholars and public opinion surveying, the author has been assured which novels are real classics, and why and in which ways people should improve the quality of translation. These are meaningful to the popularization of classics. And some other relevant points and questions such as the role of critics, publishing house, etc., are also significant to the translation and popularization of classics and provoking further discussion.An Analysis of Influential Factors on the Popularization of Classics Looking back on the choice of reading materials in the 20th century, it is obvious that different historical stages and social conditions have always influenced people significantly. Except for times, social conditions, there are many other factors that decide the popularity of a work, among which translation is the most important one. The reasons are, firstly, translation is fundamental in the process of introducing a foreign novel into our country, and secondly, good translation explains why some of the translated works can still survive even after many years of frustrations, and what is more, their final results to the consolidation of their being "classic works" manifested good translation in turn.The other influential factors should not be neglected as well.Social factors are sometimes overlapped with that of times. To put it more clearly, they refer to different conditions in different historical times. When there is a trend in the society to read one kind of readings, many people will follow it or unconsciously be attracted by it. For example, the whole society was in fanatic beliefs in The Selected Works of Mao Zedong in the ten years of "Cultural Revolution". Those who did not read them would be regarded as anti-revolutionists. In the first years after the university entrance exams were resumed, the young and middle-aged generations were eager for knowledge. They were everywhere reading textbooks or listening to English materials. Critics' explanation to and criticism on ideology can guide readers to choose or reject a work. Readers have their own aesthetic judgment and approach, so they have their own choice. But in many cases, most people have the same or similar standards. Good works will be gradually accepted as classics. Some of the classics have been extracted and the extracts have been recommended to the students. The students can get to know and appreciate the classics at a very early age, which will influence their idea of classic works. And the publishing houses and translators' associations can also do a lot for classic popularization.An Analysis of the Influential Factors on Translation QualityThe factors that influence translation quality include translation standards and principles, the related factors concerning the translators, the critics, and some necessary work by the translation association. 1. Traditional Translation Standard TheoriesOne of the most widely known theories of translation standards is the three-in-one principle "faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance" put forward by Yan Fu (1898) in the Preface to Evolution and Ethics and Other Essays. Yan emphasized "striving for expressiveness, therefore, precisely serves the purpose of realizing faithfulness". The combination of "faithfulness" and "expressiveness" can serve well the translation, but sometimes when translators strive for "elegance", they would lose sufficient regard for them. And because of the implication of "elegance" is hard to tell, many people suggested that it be crossed off, and many others have been trying to give it new explanation. This problem could not be solved easily.Fu Lei approved of and summarized the principle of "formal and spiritual resemblance" which was put forward by Chen Xiying, and pointed out that translation should strive for "spiritual resemblance". This is significant in guiding translation practice, but "formal resemblance" can contribute to "spiritual resemblance", they cannot be separated from each other, the combination of the two to a certain degree is more useful. But a suitable degree of combination is hard to get. Qian Zhongshu showed great foresight and advanced the term of "sublimity", which aroused heated discussion in the translation field. If a translated work could reach the height of "sublimity", everyone would take delight in seeing that. But it is only idealistic and too abstract.2. Ideas for Translating Literature WorksThe author in this dissertation has put forward the idea of translation "being conveyable", substituting "truthfulness" and "expressiveness", and "being flavorsome" meaning "elegant" (or not elegant), to guide translation, esp. literature translation. This may seem to be reckless and arrogant, but the author only hopes that people pay more attention to the principles which are more practical in guiding translation practice.Usually translators will translate works literally to fulfill the aim of "truthfulness", and translate freely to reach the standard of "expressiveness". The dispute over the two methods of literal translation and free translation has had a long history in China since Dao An (314-385 ) in Jin Dynasty put forward the criteria of literal translation to guide the scripture translation, while many others suggested free translation to cope with the traditional expression way of Chinese language. Nowadays it is getting clearer that in many cases, esp. in literature translation, free translation conveys the original work better than literal translation, esp. when strict literal translation does harm to the conveyance of the original meaning.3. Factors Concerning Translators1) Proficiency in Both LanguagesThere is no argument that translators should be highly proficient in both languages. Without a solid foundation of language proficiency, translation will be a "dictionary job", in which case the translation will definitely be dull or even wrong. Some phenomena are strange today. With the atmosphere of learning English in our society, many people are good at English, but poor in Chinese. Readers cannot finish reading their translation because of the terrible expression. Some people are only good at spoken English and think they can do translation as well. In fact, translation, especially literature translation, is by no means the same with interpretation. And with the development of the society, new words are coming into our daily life at a high speed and with a great quantity. Those have not been taken into dictionaries should not be used in translating literature.Translators have to study very hard to get a good knowledge of their mother tongue and that of the language they want to translate. They should have a clear idea of what meanings a word conveys, under what conditions it can be used; the sentence patterns are quite different between Chinese and English languages, translators have to change them accordingly, and so on. Only when translators have grasped thoroughly the two languages can they translate freely.2) Knowledge of World CulturesCulture is a big name for all kinds of fields of knowledge. It contains history, customs, geography, politics, literature, etc.. To put it in one word, culture is everything, though sounding a little exaggerated. English is spoken in many countries, so the various cultures will certainly show in the works. What is more, writers will introduce foreign cultures in their novels when they write about things of other countries. Therefore translators have to have a good knowledge of world cultures.To find the cultures in a work sensitively and to treat it correctly, translators have to read widely to get an overall sense of the history and geography of each nation in the world, to get to know most of the typical customs of the nations, to realize what a sign or color symbolizes in one country. There are too many to enumerate. One kind of books that have to be read are the myths of ancient Rome and Greece, the Bible, and so on, for these are frequently cited in the literature writings. If translators meet with some cultural symbols that they do not have the knowledge of, they should at least be industrious enough to look them up in the encyclopedia or on the net.3) Capability of Using TheoriesTheories are induced from practice, and can guide practice in turn. There are many theories concerning translation, and translators should choose some to guide their translation, basing on the types of the writing they are to deal with. If someone is not satisfied with the existing theories, he can summarize some new ideas according to his own translation practice, and try to popularize them if they serve the purpose of doing good translation well.4) Translation PurposeAs Zhu Shenghao began to translate Shakespeare's works to make the Chinese know the greatest drama writer in England, every translator has some purpose in doing translating. Different purpose decides the translation effect. If a translator is to make money by translating, he will do it quickly and pay insufficient attention to the quality. So far as the publishing house publishes the translation, he gets money. This does great harm to the work, the readers and the publishing house and the translator himself as well.Zhu spent almost all his short life in translating Shakespeare, hoping Chinese people to enjoy the dramas, and to get to know a great man in the field. He made it. He omitted the vulgar words and phrases in the original version and worked arduously. That's why Chinese people regard Shakespeare as one of the greatest writers in the world. So if a translator has a right purpose and work hard for it, the translation will be a success. 5) Translation MethodsTo do a good job, translators should firstly get a comprehensive idea of the author and the background of the original classic literature. Secondly, translators have to read the work again and again to thoroughly understand the meaning conveyed by the work and the aim of the work, thus to set a similar keynote for the translation. Then the translator can start to do it. To be specific, translation methods include choosing literal translation or free translation (overlapping a lot with domestication or foreignization, or reader-oriented or writer-oriented), or to combine them; choosing, changing, omitting or adding words and phrases; if there are implications or allusions, translators should try their best to understand them correctly, and to convey their meanings effectively; only using officially accepted words is also important for translating a formal work. In a word, all the methods should aim at conveying the meaning and spreading the flavor of the original work.6) Explanation of the TranslationTo make it easy for the readers to understand and enjoy reading the translated versions of some classic literature work, or to arouse readers' interest in the work, translators also need to do some explanation job. Usually the translators will write about such points in the preface or conclusion, but this is not enough, because readers will not know the book until they find it by chance, and then to read the explanation and the whole work. To popularize a book, translators should better introduce and explain the book by mass media in advance.The content of explanation can include the introduction to the author and the cultural background, some translation methods, literature terms, and so on. These help the readers to get some relevant knowledge and arouse their interest to read the book.4. Factors Concerning CriticsCritics can do a lot not only to popularize classic literature works, but to improve translation quality.Critics' criticism on translation quality can influence readers greatly. If a piece of translation is criticized as "badly translated", readers will reject it definitely, and vice versa. So facing the pressure of being criticized, translators will try hard to translate the work whole-heartedly, and to polish it carefully. Thus translation quality will certainly be improved. Of course the critics has to be honest and brave enough to tell the truth when the translation is terrible. It is no good for the critics to be a yes-man, seeking good relations with translators at the expense of principle, because people will get to know him sooner or later. And surely critics should be well educated and experts in the translation field.5. Factors Concerning Translation AssociationAmong the translation (or translators") associations, Translators Association of China (TAC) is definitely the most highly authorized.Translators Association of China (TAC) was founded in 1982. It has group members, unit members and individual members in 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities all over China, and 9 committees covering areas such as social science, literature and arts, science and technology, military science, ethnic languages, foreign affairs, international communication, translation theories and translation teaching, and translation service.In the past 22 years. TAC organized, together with its committees and member groups, more than 90 national seminars on translation. TAC also works closely with its member association in the fields of translation training, service and public interest activities such as the Han Suying Award for Young Translators.Founded in 1980, TAC's Chinese Translators Journal (bimonthly), originally named Translators Notes, is a national academic periodical. Local associations and subordinate committees of TAC publish 9 more academic journals. ( http://www.tac-online.org.cn/)It is obvious from the above information that TAC pays special attention to translation quality, and especially that of literature translation. It has taken many kinds of methods to arouse translation interest and improve translation quality. It has begun to train translators in universities. But it can do much more in this aspect. The author of the dissertation thinks that TAC can hold quality tests each year for those who are interested in translation and plans to do literature translation. Those who pass the tests can get a certificate and their names will be publicized, and their certification will be shown in the first pages of the work they have translated and published. In this way readers can judge whether the translated work in a library or in a bookstore is worth reading.TAC can also authorize famous experts in the translation field to criticize translation quality regularly in all kinds of mass media, including Chinese Translators Journal. Besides, TAC should also check the job of the critics in case that they might shield their friends and not tell the truth. With the supervision of the TAC. both translators and critics will do good jobs in the field and readers will be greatly benefited.An Overall SummaryTo put it briefly, translation quality plays an important role in popularizing a classic foreign literature, which is thought-provoking and aesthetically worthwhile, and what is more is that its translated versions are becoming more and more significant in international cultural exchange in the new times.There are still some questions that the author hopes to be dealt with, for example, whether the language spoken by Jane in the novel is too elegant sometimes, though the author Charlotte Bronte was well-educated and the basic style of the novel is elegant? Can we set up some translation standard principle that is more practical in guiding translating? When we are emphasizing the significance of reading classics, should we introduce and translate some novels revealing the true life in the foreign society by some "nobody"? Should we appeal to those who are proficient in more than two languages to do translation, though they are only interested in writing articles or theses, and which is more contributive to the society? The author hopes sincerely that in the near future, these questions will be answered by somebody so that the doubts and difficulties will be cleared up.
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