An Exploration Of The Influences Of Science Fiction Translation (1900-1919) On China From The Perspective Of Polysystem Theory

Since the publication of the first science fiction translation in China, Chinese science fiction has experienced its 100 years'development. Along with a series of symposiums held on science fiction in recent years, more and more researchers began to turn their attention to this field. The science fiction research covers a very wide range, from the history of science fiction's development, the definition of science fiction to the assessment of its impact on society etc and now it is incorporated as an independent subject in the curricula of the university. The researches are really fruitful, and provide valuable findings for the other researchers. Based upon what the researchers have got in their research, this dissertation intends to make a historical and dynamic description of the boom of translated science fiction in China from 1900 to the 1919 from the perspective of the Polysystem Theory.In the process of the description, this dissertation first describes the boom from the perspective quantitatively. Secondly, it places China's translated science fiction in the polysystem of China's literature in that period. Therefore, the boom can be understood as a process in which China's translated science fiction approached the center from the periphery, became canonized to some degree from non-canonicity, and began to shift to the secondary mode of literary creation within the polysystem of China's literature. Thirdly, this dissertation explores the reasons for the boom in the light of polysystem theory. Then, within the framework of"meta-polysystem", it discusses the effects this boom brought to China and elaborates its historical significance in the development of China.To conclude, through the discussion of the developing process of science fiction in China and the proper reasons behind its boom as well as its decline, the paper points out that the boom of science fiction translation resulted from a combination of multiple forces (literary, political and cultural) of that period, and it yielded positive effects on the development of Chinese society on the whole. With regard to the future development of science fiction in China, the author holds that there are good prospects for the translation of science fiction and its role in the cultural exchanges between China and the outside world should not be belittled.