Ideological And Poetological Manipulation In Translation

Nowadays, globalization has put an urgent demand for cross-cultural communication, of which translation is an important means. After a longtime cultural input, China is now faced with the problem of realizing the output of local culture in exchanges. Therefore, Lin Yutang, whose translation works (C-E) are in a great amount and well received by target readers, attracts more and more attention. The previous studies can be divided in two trends: one focusing on cultural and literary researches; the other focusing on translation principles and skills Lin adopted. In fact, researches of Lin's translations are still confined within the realm of linguistic research of translation, therefore separating translation and cross-cultural practices. These researches, in some degree, lags behind the Cultural Turn in Translation Studies, and therefore are unable to produce deeper interpretation and analysis of Lin's translations or provide more provoking ideas for the development of Translation Studies in China.The author proposes to analyze the translation theories and practice of Lin Yutang from social-cultural angle within the framework of rewriting put forward by Lefevere, who, as an authority in Translation Studies, states that translation practice should be studied in cultural system. He pays great attention to the influence of ideology and poetics on the translator's selection of the original text and the strategies applied in translation. He states that translation is, of course, a rewriting of the original text. The translator adjusts the target text to fit in well with the ideology and poetics of target readers for general reception among them.Lin's translation practice includes his bilingual translations, which have explicit source texts, and his auto-translation, editing and imitation as well. Lots of Lin's English works are centered on the description and discussion of Chinese philosophy, customs and folk lives. Although have not explicit source texts, they are based on a body of source material. This forms the unique phenomenon of writing the original literature in the target culture. These works have translation at their heart.The author proposes to give a case analysis of Six Chapters of a Floating Life to...