Translation In Modern China (1840-1930s) From A Postcolonial Perspective

The thesis examines translation of Modern China (1840-1930s) from a postcolonial perspective.The modern period is a complex and crucial stage in the history of Chinese translation. During this period, China was invaded by Western powers and gradually became a semi-feudal and semi-colonized nation, which falls in the research scope of the postcolonial theory.We firstly discuss how translation theorists study translation from the postcolonial perspective. The postcolonial theory of translation explores the exterior factors affecting translation activities such as economy, politics, society, history and culture, etc. Such a theory differs from the traditional translation studies that stress the precise transfer of meanings between two languages. The focus of the theory is the impacts of power differentials between the strong and the weak cultures on translation, and the roles played by translation in the process of colonization and decolonization.Then we analyze, from the postcolonial perspective, the impacts of power differentials between cultures on translation in Modern China. Through a comparative analysis of the translations of two different stages in this period, i.e., of Yan Fu and Lin Shu in the earlier stage and Lu Xun, etc. in the later stage, we find that in the former stage Chinese culture was superficially in a weak position, but the profound cultural essence of China is stronger than that of the West. Therefore, translators such as Yan Fu and Lin Shu selected their foreign texts for the purpose of enlightening the people's mentality and saving the nation, and thoroughly domesticated them so as to integrate Western cultures into the truss of Chinese language and culture, which is undoubtedly positive and helpful for their resistance to the invasion of hegemonic cultures. During the latter stage, because intellectuals had a sober understanding of theChinese language and culture, wishing to absorb and utilize the advanced Western counterparts so as to improve the indigenous ones and their competitive ability internationally, translators like Lu Xun widely chose varieties of foreign texts, and pursued foreignizing method that seemed to be self-colonization. However, the adoption of foreignization does not mean a complete westernization, but rather a self-reconstruction by enduring humiliation in order to save the nation. From a long-term point of view, such a method could also be regarded as a kind of "resistance".Lastly, we conclude that translation actually played a critical role in the process of decolonization. As a whole, the postcolonial theory of translation is of positive significance to our translation studies and practice. It widens the scope of translation studies and also makes people consider translation practice more generally and reasonably, from the selection of foreign texts to the employment of translation strategies and the exhibition of the social function of translation. Certainly the postcolonial theory of translation does have its deficiency. It mainly investigates the translation situation of the weak cultural texts into the hegemonic cultures so that it usually fails to analyze the translation situation in the opposite direction. The thesis explores this very situation. Through a specific analysis of cases of Yan Fu, Lin Shu and Lu Xun in Modern China, we find that both domestication and foreignization, adopted by different translators with different political aims in different historical and cultural contexts, can be viewed as a positive resistance to cultural hegemony. Therefore, the thesis is, to some degree, a supplement to the postcolonial theory of translation.