Influence Of Ideology On The Selection Of Original Texts For Translation In China From 1898 To 1937

The emphasis of translation studies is shifting from linguistic studies to extralinguistic studies, which indicates that translation is far from a practice of bilingual transfer, and that many other factors are involved in the process of translation such as culture, history, aesthetic value as well as ideology in the target language context. Andre Lefevere is one of the western scholars who have been devoted to extralinguistic studies. He puts forward four important constraints under which translators operate. They are poetics, patronage, universe of discourse as well as ideology. The study focuses on the constraint of ideologyAny translating activity has its purpose and is utilitarian, serving for certain political purpose. The selection of source texts for translation largely depends on the social ideologyThe present thesis researched the influences of ideology on the selection of source texts for translation from 1898 to 1937. The whole period was divided into two phases: the late Qing and early ROC period (1898- 1919) and the May 4th period (1920- 1937). During the first period, China was undergoing significant changes. The failure of Sino- Japanese war and serious national crisis inspired Chinese people's patriotism. Many intellectuals required to learn from the west and to reform the country. Influenced by this social ideology, foreign novels as a kind of political tools were introduced, among which political novels, detective fictions and science fictions were preferred for their novelty content and educational function. A series of reforms caused another translation climax in the May 4th period. October Revolution showed a bright way for Chinese people, thus Russian literature became the mainstream of translation. Literature Research Association translated large amounts of realism works in the hope of finding a way out for China. Meanwhile, special attention was paid to literature of oppressed nations which shared similar national conditions with China. On the other hand, Creation Society, advocating"art for art's sake", translated many romanticism works. This proved that the selection of different genres and countries in May 4th period was influenced by different ideologies.From the above analysis, the conclusion can be reached that large amounts of literary works were introduced into China in the early 20th century. However, due to different political and historical background and the transformation of ideology, the two periods had their own specific characteristics in the selection of source texts for translation. The comparative study of the two periods can help us understand more clearly that translating especially the selection of source texts is not an innocent work but an activity closely connected with the social ideology, which played an important role in the selection of source texts for translation.