On Stephen Owen's Translation Of Classical Chinese Literature

Stephen Owen, one of the most distinguished American sinologists, translators, scholars, is Conant University Professor now teaching in both the Departments of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and the department of Comparative Literature at Harvard University. He edited and translated almost single-handedly the enormous translation corpus An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911. His great contribution is that he is one of the first to put classical Chinese literature in a position equal to the western classics. The anthology has become the authoritative selected reading for Western scholars who study China, and also it is considered an indispensable text for students in all the Departments of East Asian Languages and Cultures of universities in the West. In his anthology, representative Chinese classics from various genres, such as poetry, prose, T'ang tales, letters, traditional literary theories, and dramas are translated into English. The translation language is accurate and faithful to the original but the forms that Owen adopts are quite flexible and are not bound to the pattern that the source texts use. His translation is not only a useful reference for specialists but is also suitable for the general English reader. Owen's translation helps more and more Western readers appreciate the richness of Chinese culture, and he has devoted himself to introducing Chinese culture to the West and dedicated his whole life to the cultural dialogue between China and the West.In addition to the introduction and the conclusion, this dissertation is divided into five parts.The introduction gives a brief presentation of the theme and the basic structure of the whole dissertation.Chapter One gives a brief introduction to Stephen Owen's academic career, his philosophy of translation, and offers a commentary on his translationcorpus--^ Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911.Chapter Two gives a summary of Owen's theory of poetic translation, applying the approach of New Criticism to the analysis of his translations of poems, from points of linguistic features, contents, forms, and rhythms. Moreover, it compares the translated version of a poem done by Owen to one by the famous Chinese translator Xu Yuanzhong.Chapter Three uses the Reader-Response theory to analyze Owen's version of classical Chinese prose from the perspective of linguistic styles, contents, forms and translation techniques.Chapter Four makes a comment on Owen's translation of T'ang classical tales using the theory of literary stylistics and fictional translation, analyzing selected versions from the points of structures, narrative discourse, styles and translation skills. Furthermore, it makes a comparison between the translated versions of a story done by Owen and one done by Xianyi and Gladys Yang from several angles.Chapter Five assesses the value and influence of Owen's translation of classical Chinese literature and his contribution to the cultural communication between China and the West. Certainly, it is unavoidable that there are some mistakes and deficiencies in his translation, but they do not have any impact on the quality of his whole translation. Due to the influence of the deep-rooted Eurocentrism, Chinese culture has been marginalized and considered inferior. Given this international background, Owen's translation introduces Chinese culture to the West and makes more Western readers come to understand the thousand-year old Chinese culture, greatly promoting the cultural communication between China and the West.The conclusion gives a summary of the whole text.