Dickens In China:Translation,Influence And Canonization

By making a summary of the textual travel(translation and acceptance)of Charles Dickens' works in China in the past one hundred years or so,this paper studies the influence of Dickens and his works on the development of modern Chinese literature and sums up the way they are canonized in China.The author believes that the introduction of Dickens' work to China seems to have happened accidentally,but is in fact closely connected with the historical,social and cultural conditions of China at the time when it occurred.China has always witnessed a great number of translations and introductions of Dickens' works in different periods of time.The reason of this,the author thinks,is that these works can always live up to the expectations of the readers in different times.Dickens cares for the suffering of those living at the bottom of the society and at the same time scorns the bourgeois class on the top with bitter satire.Such profound humanistic stand of his,together with his humorous language and interesting description of the scenes has always impressed Chinese readers greatly,making a profound influence on many modern Chinese writers who have come to establish their own unique styles as a result of such Dickensian influence,of whom Lao She is the representative.Owing to the special attraction of his own self and the unique artistic features of his works,Dickens has been ranked as one of the most popular foreign writers among Chinese readers,whose deep love of him makes him a classic author.In the first chapter of the paper(the body),the author makes a summary of the translation and acceptance of Dickens' works(with David Copperfield as an example)in China in three different periods as represented by three different translations.Since first translated during the transition period in the early 20th century,the translation of Dickens'works had been very active until the 17-year period after the founding of the People's Republic of China and the new era since the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy.In the first period,Dickens' works began to be translated in a great number.In most cases,the translators as represented by Lin Shu had applied a very practical translation strategy while the reviewers and commentators had likewise not gone too deep in their introduction of the writer without thorough analysis.The 17-year period had seern a strong influence of the ideology which had led to the crush-down of literary works from English speaking countries.However,due to his concern for the downtrodden people,Dickens and his works continued to be read extensively.Since the new era of reform and opening-up,the unique attraction of Dickens' work is again discovered,which,together with the impact of the commodity economy,brings the translation and publication of Dickens' works into an unprecedented prosperity.On the other hand,the emergence of new communication media based on the computer and Internet technology paves a wider way for the spread of Dickens's works in China.In the second chapter,based on the theory of comparative aesthetics in translation,the author makes a comparative study of three translated versions of David Copperfield,respectively by Lin Shu,Dong Qiusi and Zhang Guruo,from three perspectives,namely the overall result of the translation for the readers,the recovery of original linguistic features and the changes of the character images in the translated texts,and after that,gives an analysis of the causes(both direct and indirect)of the differences among the three translations.As viewed from the overall result,Lin's translation is rich in elegant classical Chinese and deep personal emotions,Dong's reads exotic while Zhang's shows well-developed Chinese expressions,sentence structures and grammar.As to the recovery of the original linguistic features,Lin's translation differs a lot from the original because of the classical Chinese he used while Dong's can partly represent the original as the early modern Chinese he used is full of expressions with English characteristics and Zhang's,with the authentic modern Chinese and the flexible approaches he used,represents Dickens' linguistic features in a perfect way.As far as the character images are concerned,Lin's translation sees the greatest changes,Dong's comparatively less and Zhang's the least.Through this comparison,the author shows that social and cultural contexts can impose a great influence on the strategies taken by translators when translating foreign literary works.Besides,the manipulation of ideology can decide the outcome of the translated texts and the ever changing and development of communication media can affect the acceptance of the translated texts.As a conclusion of this chapter,the author sums up the interactive relationship between the translation of literary works and the influence of culture.By reflecting on the translation of Dickens' works in China as represented by David Copperfield,we can see the general cultural context,the mainstream ideology and the development of media all have a great influence on the translation and acceptance of these works in China.In the third chapter,from the perspectives of narratology,the author analizes the influence of Charles Dickens on modern Chinese writers represented by Lao She from three aspects including writing about the downtrodden people,characterization and narrative skills for comedic effects.With his feet firmly set in London,Dickens gives a panoramic record of the sufferings of people from all walks of life in the bottom of the society.He gives readers a vast collection of characters and creates a comical effect throughout his works by means of being funny,satirical and humorous.All these have a profound influence on Lao She,who,to be sure,surpasses his teacher through his own innovation.Compared with Dickens,Lao She has more full and round character,more real emotions and more realistically meaningful stories.In the fourth chapter,the author summarizes the way Charles Dickens is canonized in China.Four factors,according to the author,have contributed to this,including the classical position Dickens holds in his home country,his personal charisma and the artistic attraction of his works,the promotion of the Chinese elite readers(Dickensian critics)and the common readers' unceasing love for Dickens in China.Before he was introduced to Chinese readers,Charles Dickens as a renowned writer had been a household name in UK,US and other European countries,earning enough cultural capital,setting the stage for his canonization in other countries.His own success is a very encouraging story in itself.He believes in the power of moral strength and in the good rewards eventually won by good people.His warm tenderness,which is represented by those tears behind the laughter,and his sentimentalism can always turn his works into a good remedial comfort to suffering souls.Chinese literary critics attach much importance to such great power of moral and emotional strength in Dickens works while the common readers,on the other hand,enjoy the spontaneous responses they experience when reading Dickens.Such spontaneous responsive feelings show the multifaceted interpretation of Dickens' works by the Chinese readers,a token of their endless love for him.By summing up the travel of Dickens' translated works in China,we can find that the translation of literary works is not an isolated activity but closed connected with the historical,social,cultural and ideological reality of a nation in a certain time.Together,they form an interdepended poly-system.As influenced by this system,translators will rewrite the original work when translating,which is one of their strategic reactions to the limitation of these factors.Such creative betrayal can usually have a manipulative effect on the fame of the literary work.When such limitations are overcome,a translated work can be introduced and accepted in the target nation,or to go one step further,be canonized with the unceasing interpretation and promotion of the readers.As a special travel of texts,translation can have the most powerful influence on the literature of a target nation when it is most active.However,such influence is not always overwhelming as native writers will always try to overcome it through innovation and development in order to establish their own styles.This is natural.Hence,we can come to the conclusion that social and cultural contexts decide the beginning of translation,the strategies taken by the translators and the final result of the translated texts.Therefore,the study of translated literature should not be limited to such superficial issues as literal translation and free translation,faithfulness and betrayal,and coherence and incoherence.Instead,we should go deep into such issues to find out the interaction of the social and cultural influences hidden behind.This can bring us more rewards,making it the most interesting and rewarding part in translation study.