Reevaluating The Cultural Significance Of Lin Shu And His Translations

Lin Shu is a controvertial figure in the translation history of China. The value ofLin Shu and his translations were severely depreciated during the May Fourth NewCulture Movement. In recent years, researches have indicated that Lin Shu'stranslations are of great significance to the modernization of Chinese literature andculture and thus Lin Shu's value is redefined and reaffirmed. However, his role in theMay Fourth New Cultural Movement is still considered to be a negative one.The development of contemporary translation studies takes translation as anorm-governed activity and a form of cultural manipulation through the process of"rewriting" controlled by ideology and poetics. The study of translated literature inChina has also witnessed great development. Taking these achievements as thetheoretical basis, this paper aims to re-evaluate Lin Shu's translations and re-definehis role in the May Fourth Period. It will discover Lin Shu's efforts to develop theChinese literature and culture so as to re-evaluate his cultural significance.This paper takes Lin Shu's translations as a kind of translated literature andexamines their characteristics With one of his most influential translated works, HeinuYutian Lu as a case study. Lin Shu's translated novel has great literary values andconveys a lot of Chinese cultural values, which implies Lin Shu's intention tomanifest the merit of Chinese literature and culture. On the other hand, it isdiscovered that Lin Shu's protest in the New Cultural Movement shows his efforts tosave the Chinese traditional literature and culture.This paper concludes that Lin Shu's translations could be regarded as an act of"rewriting" under his literary and cultural belief and he did so in order to consolidatethe position of Chinese culture. His efforts to develop the Chinese literature in such away that it will keep its tradition while absolving new elements should be favorablyrecognized and it might be insightful for the construction of national cultural identityin today's world of cultural hegemony.