A Study On Lin Shu's Translation Of Uncle Tom's Cabin From The Perspectives Of Ideology And Culture

Translation has always been one of the important means for human communication. It is not only a linguistic transformation from one language into another, but also a cultural exchange. As for literary translation, the originals and the translated texts exist in two different cultural contexts, with the original writers and the translators, and the source language readers and the target language readers holding quite different outlooks. Consequently in the study of literary translation, the specific socio-cultural environments into which the translated texts were produced and accepted should be taken into consideration.Traditional translation study attaches great importance to the linguistic aspect of translation, focusing on the comparison of the original works and their translations. Translation Studies has come to prominence since the 1970s, which looks upon translation, especially literary translation, as a social activity with historical significance. Incorporating socio-cultural factors in translation study, it greatly expands the vision and domain of this particular discipline.Fiction translation had been booming in China from around 1898 to 1919, when translated works of fiction emerged in great number, among which Lin Shu's translated works were quite outstanding. Being an expert in classical Chinese and not knowing any foreign language, Lin Shu had translated 163 works of fiction from 11 countries with many masterpieces included, which ensures his position as a master translator in China's translation history. Based on the theories of Translation Studies, the thesis takes a close look at Lin Shu's fiction translation and carries out a case study on his translation of Uncle Tom's Cabin from the perspectives of ideology and culture, expounding the influence social environments exert on translation.Section one of chapter one summarizes traditional translation theories, and then gives a brief introduction to the development and main ideas of Translation Studies since its emergence in the 1970s. Section two reviews the fiction translation activities in China from 1898 to 1919. Chapter two puts forward the theoretical basis of the thesis, that is, there are two shaping forces of literary translation—ideology andculture; and elucidates these two concepts. Chapter three makes a general view on lin Shu's fiction translation, pointing out that his translated works have their far-reaching significance and defects as well. Chapter four carries out a case study on lin Shu's translation of Uncle Tom's Cabin, demonstrating the influence of ideology and culture on literary translation. Chapter five serves as the conclusion, stressing once again that study of literary translation should be closely associated with the specific socio-cultural environments. Through this method the real values of literary translation are sure to show up.In a word, translation is no longer a pure linguistic transformation between different languages. It is undergoing the cultural turn with an ever-enlarging domain, which should be viewed from multiple perspectives; only in this way can we attain fruitful results in this particular field.