A Study On The Translation Of Weak And Small Nationality Literature Around The May Fourth Period

Because of the unique environment and social need before and after the May Fourth Movement,this period is a prosperous period of translating and introducing 'the Literature of Weak or Minor Nationalities'.It is a feature that the translators who participate in the activities to translate and introduce the 'Literature of Weak and Minor Nationalities' were also writers.This study aims to have a systematical analysis of these translation activities,to analyze its literal,ideaistic and social value so as to enrich and deepen the cognition of the role which the New Literature Movement plays in the process of the beginning and developing of Modern Chinese Literature and ideas.The academic significance of this study lies in the following points:Firstly,it is important to find out the common track of the dissemination of 'the Literature of Weak or Minor Nationalities' and the development of Modern Chinese Literature in order to understand the sophisticated relationship between the historic feature of literary production and the social-cultural activities.Secondly,the translation and dissemination of 'the Literature of Weak or Minor Nationalities' not only help boost the rouse of national consciousness,it is also an important part of the literal life of many modern Chinese writers and translators.This dissertation focuses on the study of the translation and dissemination of 'the Literature of Weak or Minor Nationalities' before and after the May Fourth Movement carried out by many Chinese writers-translators.The reason why this subject is chosen is that the current study in this field is not systematic yet.There are many blanks to fill in.Based on the statistics from combing the Catalog Compilation of Modern Chinese Journals which includes about 150 magazines in early 20th century,eight magazines are selected to be studied in detail in this dissertation.Statistical analysis are made about the translated literary works of 'the Literature of Weak or Minor Nationalities'published on these magazines.Eight important related translators,Lu Xun,Zhou Zuoren,Mao Dun,Shen Zemin,Zheng Zhenduo,Wang Luyan,Hu Yuzhi and Sun Yong are studied in detail.The dissertation consists of the following parts:The introduction provides the research background of this subject and the definition of the three key concepts:the May Fourth Movement,'the Weak or Minor Nationalities' and 'the Literature of Weak or Minor Nationalities' and the current research background.It also discusses the research methods and the main contents of this dissertation.Chapter one argues about the mian periods of translating 'the Literature of Weak or Minor Nationalities':the appearance of translating 'the Literature of Weak or Minor Nationalities' during the late Qing Dynasty,the upsurge of it in the May Fourth Movement period and the translation activities in 1930's.Based on the generalization of the translation activities,chapter one argues about the keystones which should be discussed in detail:the main magazines:the New Youth,the Short Story Magazine,the Eastern Miscellany,Literature and Translation;the main translators:Lu Xun,Zhou Zuoren,Mao Dun,Shen Zemin,Wang Luyan and Sun Yong;Polish writer Henryk Siekiewicz,and Norwegian dramatist Ibsen.Chapter two:Based on Chapter one,chapter two mainly argues about the translation of' the Literature of Weak or Minor Nationalities' in the six main magazines in detail according to the statistics from analyzing more than 150 magazines in the Catalog Compile of Magazines in Modern Chinese Literature.The six magazines are in the following periods respectively:the 1st period,1918-1921,the representative magazine is The New Youth;the 2nd period:1921-1931,the representative magazine is the Short Story Magazine and the Eastern Miscellany;the 3rd period:1930's,the representative magazine is Literature and Translation.Statistical analysis are made about the translation relevant translation in the main journals,the following journals are selected to be analyzed in the aspects as the amounts,the subjects,the countries they belong to and the translators.The translation activities of eight translators are argued about in detail:including Lu Xun,Zhou Zuoren,Mao Dun,Shen Zemin,Zheng Zhenduo,Wang Luyan,Hu Yuzhi and Sun Yong.The argument about the main translators are divided into the following chapters in order to make it logical and clear:Chapter three argues about the translation of 'the Literature of Weak or Minor Nationalities' by Lu Xun and Zhou Zuoren:the process of the translation;the amount and the countries of the translated literary works,and the journals on which the works were published.Specific analysis is made about their translation of the Literature of Weak or Minor Nationalities' on the magazine New Youth and in the collection of translated literary works with the name Collections of Fictions from Foreign Countries(Yuwai Xiaoshuo Ji),including the translation motivation and translation strategy.More specific arguments are made about different writers in the following chapters in the similar way:Chapter four argues about the translation of the Literature of Weak or Minor Nationalities' by the Shen Brothers:Mao Dun(Shen Yanbing)and Shen Zemin;chapter five of Zheng Zhenduo,Lu Yan,Hu Yuzhi and Sun Yong.Chapter six argues about the influence on the literary creation of modern Chinese literature and on the social ideological enlightenment by the translation of 'the Literature of Weak or Minor Nationalities'.The translators such as Lu Xun,Zhou Zuoren,Mao Dun and Zheng Zhenduo are also the important participants of New Literature Movement.Their translation are far beyond the category of translation activities,but a process which crosses the border of ideology,culture and literature in which there is not only positive information sent by Chinese translators to take the Literature of Weak or Minor Nationalities' as a mirror,but also the influence of big power to weak and minor nations in thedissemination of literature translation.It help boost the enlightenment of national independence as well as the literary creation of Modern Chinese literature.In the end,a summary is made about the main points of this dissertation and discusses about the limitations of this study and gives suggestion of the follow-up study.The innovation of this dissertation includes three points:1.This is a relatively systematical study of the translation and dissemination of translating 'the Literature of Weak or Minor Nationalities' around the May Fourth movement period compared with the former scholars' study and figures out the general situation based on mastering and combing plentiful and an infallible information.EXCEL software is used to analyze the statistics.Therefore,this dissertation sets a comparative basis of historical materials for deepening the further study in this field.2.Systematically historical materials are sorted out based on combing the records in the following magazines and books:New Youth,the Short Story Magazine(Xiaoshuo Yuebao),Translation Magazine(Yiwen),Annals of Zhou Zuoren(Zhou Zuoren Nianpu),the Complete Works of Luxun(Luxun Quanji)and the Complete Translated works of Mao Dun(Maodun Yiwen Quanji).Studies are made on the translation activities of Lu Xun and Zhou Zuoren,Shen Yanbing and Shen Zemin,Zheng Zhenduo,Lu Yan,Hu Yuzhi and Sun Yong,arguing about their thoughts and pursuits of literature.3.This dissertation argues about the the dissemination and influence of the translation of' the Literature of Weak or Minor Nationalities',how the translation and dissertation entered the mechanism of Chinese new literature,expanding international vision and influencing the literary creation.The limitations:'The Literature of Weak and Minority Nations,is an extensive concept with wide ranging.This dissertation focuses on the period around the May Fourth Movement and the translated works in the key magazines and by key translators.Thus it is hard to include all the information.The second point is about contradistinguishing the original works and the translated works.The translated works of Lu Xun,Zhou Zuoren,Wang Luyan,Mao Dun are from different sources.Lu Xun and Zhou Zuoren did many re-translation work form works in different languages:German,English or Japan.Wang Luyan translated from works in Esperanto which were not the original ones.It is hard to find the original edition of the works which were published about one hundred years ago and contradistinguish them.This dissertation mainly sorts out the historical materials and does the preliminary study.The writer hopes this dissertation could lay the foundation for further research.