On Novel Transiation In The Late Qing Dynasty And The Early Republic Of China (1898-1919): A Polysystem Perspective

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century China was in a fiercely turbulent state. Facing the invasion of foreign powers and the nation's dangerous situation, the class of the literati wished to open people's minds and save the Chinese people from the abyss of suffering through novels, the most popular literary form. With the advocacy of Liang Qichao and other pioneers, thousands of novels were translated into Chinese in about two decades. With their unprecedented numbers and great influences, translated novels had a profound impact on literary translation in China, while it is astonishing that studies of novel translation from this period have been far from sufficient.Compared to current translated literature, novel translation as a whole in this period showed some unique features. Translators abridged or expanded the original texts at will; the zhanghui style and classical Chinese were adopted in translating foreign works; and domestication prevailed in a general sense. In the specific socio-cultural circumstances, translators expressed their own thoughts and ambitions in the translated texts with the hope to awaken the masses by translated works. The prevalence of adaptive translation arouses the interest of the author of this thesis who attempts to analyze the causes of adaptive translation and its influences on Chinese socio-cultural polysystem. By examining the grand socio-cultural circumstances of China from the perspective of Polysystem theory proposed by Israeli scholar Itamar Even-Zohar, she hopes that the fashion of adaptive translation will be validated as a rational and historical necessity.This thesis consists of six chapters.Chapter One is an introduction. It sets out the theme, motivation and objective of the present study, the case chosen for discussion, and the organization of the whole thesis. Chapter Two is literature review. In this chapter previous studies in China of literary translation in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China are reviewed from the studies of history and those of literary translation. The author summarizes that most studies are limited to collection and description of historical materials and make insufficient study of the social mechanism, inner factors and others of translation techniques utilized in this period.Chapter Three illustrates Itamar Even-Zohar's Polysystem theory and its application to translation studies. The author of this thesis believes that this theory liberates translation studies from the text level and puts translation studies in the grand socio-cultural context. With this theory the causes and mechanism of novel translation during the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China can be studied more accurately and comprehensively, therefore, it is the theoretical tool the author adopts in Chapter Four.Chapter Four and Chapter Five compose the core of this thesis. In the first part of Chapter Four the definition and the features of adaptive translation are amplified. Then, the author analyzes its causes with the help of Polysystem theory in detail. She discusses the influence of traditional translations of Buddhist scriptures on literary translation, and then researches the social reform in the subject period and its influence on ideological configuration with the conclusion that the boom of novel translation and the formation of adaptive translation are the necessary choice of social reform. In the end, the author furthers her analysis from social factors, translators, and their target readers. In Chapter Five the profound influences and contributions of adaptive translation and its products are summed up regarding ideology, the literary polysystem, and modern writers.Chapter Six is the conclusion. After a detailed and intensive study of the novel translation during the subject period, it is found that translated literature, especially translated novels, assumed a position of primary importance in the socio-cultural polysystem. Because of the specialty of the times, adaptive translation would definitely be a fashion and would prove prevailingly influential on the target socio-cultural polysystem. Scholars should not neglect this period when studying literary translation. Studies of the position and function of adaptive translation and its products in the whole of the 20th century of literary translation in China should go further.