The Study Of Chinese Bible Translation From The Perspective Of Polysystem Theory

The Bible is the most important classic in the west and is a collection of sacred writings of the Christian faiths. This special version possessing the characteristics of theology, history and literature has been making a profound influence all over the world. Bible's continuous translation is definitely the process of the interpretation of different target languages and cultures which not only makes impact upon the different nations' culture but also helps to forge their language'systems. Therefore, how to translate Bible and how to make a systematic research of its translation can be regarded as a most significant factor to comprehend the whole human kinds' social culture.This thesis is based upon the mutual research between the translation theory and Chinese Bible translation case study. Taking Even-Zohar's Polysystem Theory and its extension theories as the framework, this study reconsiders and analyses the Chinese Bible translation as the case study to offer the theoretical support to the characteristics of different stages' translation in China, the position of the Chinese Bible translation as a canonized repertoire during the Chinese history and the dynamic tendency from "peripheral" to "central" or from "central" to "peripheral". By putting Lefevere's rewriting theory in particular, this thesis also shows how, in the operation and reception of three controlling factors, ideology, poetics and patronage influences or manipulates the Bible translation in China so as to demonstrate the positive application of the cultural & descriptive translation theory especially the cultural turn.The Polysystem Theory belongs to the Cultranslation Theory, which connects translation with the dynamics of the target context, social elements and emphasizes the decisive role that the target culture system plays in translation and stresses that the existing factors in target cultural system act as a filter. Thus, the translation study has been situated and explored in a much broader and more complex research environment.The Chinese Bible translation constitutes an indispensable branch of the Bible translation in the world. The thesis attempts to make a detailed literature review of the history of world's Bible translation and Chinese Bible translation especially the division of five stages of Chinese Bible translation into the beginning, the preliminary, the explore , the prosperous and the multiple period in order to offer definite cases to the theoretical support. The diversity of the translators, translated versions and translation principles proved to be a turn of culture and literature as well as the external elements such as political and cultural elements. Considering the influence upon language and literature and the dynamic development of the Chinese Bible translation theories, this thesis makes the conclusion of the tendency from "the absolute fidelity" to" the cultural acceptance" of this religious God's words' rewriting focusing on the target culture, specifically Chinese culture. On the basis of this analysis, the thesis author proposes the design or blueprint of "reconstruction of Chinese Bible translation poetics" under such cultural globalization and pluralism time just in spontaneous accordance with the polysystem or its extension's essences with the sincerely academic attitude to offer some theoretical supports in this field.