A Study Of Lin Yutang’s English Transcreation

Based on transcreation theories, this dissertation is a study of Lin Yutang’s English trancreation activities from the perspectives of Lin’s subjectivity as a transcreator, and his transcreation strategies, and effect, in an attempt to reveal his leading role in the whole process of trancreating, to find out the main characteristics of his strategies of transcreation, and to examine the subject, the text, the hybridity of translation and writing in transcreation, as well as the dissemination and reception of the transcreated texts.Taking the transcreator’s subjectivity as the starting point, this dissertation defines Lin Yutang as a transcreator and analyzes his motives, text selection, and thoughts on transcreation. Then, through close reading, this dissertation discusses Lin’s strategies of transcreation in terms of language and culture, points out the complexity of his strategies and reveals the relationship between his motives, thoughts and strategies. Finally, this dissertation does an investigation into the dissemination and reception of Lin’s transcreations based on the statistics of overseas publications and response from readers, points out Lin’s international influence, and thus proves the achievements of his motives and strategies. This is then followed by a comprehensive and objective survey of the transcreator and the transcreated texts in the historical context, indicating that both Lin’s subjectivity as a transcreator and his transcreation model are of significance for cultural communication.The main findings of this dissertation boil down to the following three points:Firstly, as a transcreator, Lin Yutang was both a literary translator and a cultural self-translator. This dual identity deconstructs the concepts of the source text and the author and puts him into a broad context of "translating" Chinese cultural metatext. Thus, we can see that Lin’s subjectivity as a transcreator goes beyond the "invisibility" of the traditional translator and shows an active "self-representation"Secondly, combining translation methods and writing skills, Lin Yutang’s transcreation strategies form a system featured by its multilevel structures, richness, originality, and ingenuity. This system has a general characteristic of "homophonic dialogue". With the presentation of the Chinese language and culture as the main tone, accompanied by a Western language (i.e. English) and its culture, in which both reconstruction of Chinese culture and the empathy of target readers are achieved.Thirdly, with a systematic and comprehensive introduction to Chinese culture, Lin Yutang’s transcreations have had a sustained international influence across the ages. Thus, we can see that he achieved his main goal of introducing Chinese culture to the West and his reconstruction of Chinese culture received recognition from his target readers. Furthermore, his success in transcreation has provided us with a new model of "writing translation" with a whole repertoire of useful strategies and procedures of transcreation for the Chinese culture to reach the whole world.