A Study On Translation Activities In Yan’an Times And Its Influences

The comprehensive study of Yan’an times has been a promising study and research field in Mainland China. However, the researchers and current academic achievement on this issue paid little attention to the translation activities in Yan’an times, which resulted in a lack of study focus concerning the integrity of Yan’an Times Study. Regarding the studies on China’s translation history, the translation period of Yan’an times has been ignored, and thus caused the incompleteness of study frame of China’s translation history. This dissertation focuses on the translation activities in Yan’an times, analyses the factors that affected those translation activities in terms of social, ideological, and diplomatic background in Yan’an times, and summarizes the roles and significance that those translation activities has played.The paper is composed of seven chapters. The first chapter is the introduction, presenting the forming of the research topic, the general content construction, study approaches and the significance of the paper. Chapter2is the literature review, including the academic achievement on the study of translation history both abroad and in China, and the rationale of the study, namely translation and power, translation ecology, and translation ethics. Chapters3-6are about the different aspects of translation activities in Yan’an times. Chapter3deals with the social discourse of the translation activities, including the social background of the translation activities and the relative translation agencies, and points out the translation ecology in Yan’an times. Chapter4introduces the translation figures like the professional translators and the grass rooted interpreters and their social and historical recognition. Chapter5reviews the translation training programs and its functions in Yan’an times, and its influences on Foreign language Schools in New China. Chapter6analyzes the various translation works including the translation of Marxism classics, the translation of news articles from foreign magazines and radio broadcasting, the interview interpretation between foreign journalists and Chinese Red Army leaders and soldiers, and summarizes the propaganda and publicity purpose of these translation works. The last chapter is the conclusion, which summarizes the academic significance and the implication of translation activities in Yan’an times. The paper highlights the political discourse of the various translation activities in Yan’an times, and points out its unique contribution to the international communication, publicity and diplomacy of the CCP in Yan’an times. Therefore, the author believes that the translation activities in Yan’an times are a typical case study of translation and power, and it shares the common features of the applied translation.The paper employs the descriptive approach to the translation history study to interpret and analyze the historical materials and translation events, and suggests the translation activities in Yan’an times corresponded with the then ideological, social, military, diplomatic needs and the necessity of international communication as well. The paper suggests that translation activities in Yan’an times in general was a helping and powerful factor both to the final victory of the Anti-Japanese War and to the international recognition of Chinese Communist Party, and it played a solid foundation for the establishment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Colleges of Foreign Languages, and the Compilation and Translation Bureau of New China.The paper also indicates the weakness of those translation activities due to the discourse of the war time, and points out the possible reasons for the current ignorance of the study of translation activities in Yan’an times. However, the translation activities in Yan’an times is a unique section in China’s translation history, and the study of it is rewarding to the exploration of China’s translation history.It is the author’s hope that this groundbreaking dissertation will arouse more researchers’ interest and attention to the integral translation activities in Yan’an times so that a more clear and complete picture of China’s translation history will be portrayed.