A Study On Burton Watson's Records Of The Grand Historian

Shi Ji (《史记》) is the first annal and biography general history in China. It records a grand history of the first three thousand years of Chinese civilization. It is not only a monumental historical book but also a brilliant literary work. It exerts widespread and profound influence on later ages. Shi Ji creates the form that takes historical figures as the center of historical records and portrays many lifelike characters. It has made epoch-making artistic and thinking achievements.Burton Watson (1925- ) is a famous contemporary American sinologist and is well-known to the world for his translations of Chinese and Japanese literature. He has translated a large number of Chinese classics. His translation is accurate, lucid and beautiful, bringing him several translation prizes in the United States. Watson is among the best loved American translators working from Chinese literature and has made great contribution to the spread of Chinese classics in the English-speaking world. In 1961, Watson published his translation of the Han Dynasty part of Shi Ji, and in 1993 he added the part of Qin Dynasty. His translation is faithful and fluent, and is regarded as a milestone for the spread of Shi Ji to the other parts of the world.In China's Mainland, there are relatively few essays and works about English translation of Shi Ji and the translator Watson. They have not received due attention. This thesis attempts to fill the vacancy and explore the strategies in English translation of Chinese classics by taking Watson's work as a case. Lawrence Venuti is a well-known contemporary translation theorist and historian as well as a translator. This thesis attempts to take his "translator's invisibility" as the theoretical basis to analyze the features of Watson's translation, compare his rendering to those of the Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang and William H. Nienhauser, Jr.'s team, and evaluate Watson's translation strategy under the power relations between Chinese and Western cultures. It also aims to discuss how to make better cross-cultural communication within the context of cultural globalization.Besides introduction and conclusion, the thesis consists of five chapters.The introduction offers a brief account of the theme, the theoretical basis and the general structure of this thesis.Chapter One provides an introduction to Shi Ji, its author Sima Qian, the theme, the contents and form, and its historical and literary significance and influence. It also gives a survey of the translation of Shi Ji in the English-speaking world;Chapter Two introduces the translator Watson, the edition, contents and framework concerned, and discusses the overall features and limitation of this translation;Chapter Three compares three versions of Shi Ji. It consists of two parts: extrinsic studies and a case study;Chapter Four concentrates on the re-evaluation of Records of the Grand Historian with the theory of Venuti's "translator's invisibility".Chapter Five discusses the contribution of Watson's translation to cross-cultural communication.These points are reviewed and summarized in the conclusion.