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On The Ideological Manipulation In Literary Translation-A Case Study Of Two English Versions Of Luotuo Xiangzi

Posted on:2008-03-30Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:Y L LiuFull Text:PDF
GTID:2155360245490659Subject:English Language and Literature
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Traditional translation studies has generally been source-text oriented with the emphasis on the "fidelity" to the source text. Nevertheless, due to the absence of empirical data, this approach has failed to address the influence of ideology on translating through years of their prevalence. Traditional translation studies remain reluctant to take into account the social values and ideologies which, in fact, exert great influence on translating. With the culture turn in translation studies, advanced by Lefevere, the traditional translation theories have been challenged. He introduced a new set of terms to analyze the influence of social and cultural background upon the translated literature. For Lefevere, the social, cultural, ideological considerations are important in exploring why translators translate in this or that way.Based on Lefevere's theory of translating as rewriting, the present thesis aims at exploring the influences of ideology on literary translation with a case study of Evan King's Rickshaw Boy published in 1945 and Shi Xiaojing's Camel Xiangzi published in 1981. The purpose is to reveal the similar and different strategies respectively adopted by translators at different times, which result from their respective backgrounds and ideologies.1936 saw the publication of Luotuo Xiangzi. At that time, China was confronted with domestic troubles and foreign invasions. The Left-Wing Culture Movement was raised. Under its influence, Lao She observed the lives of laborers at the lowest level of the social ladders and wrote this novel to animadvert the society. At the same time, Lao She's androcentrism was shown in his molding of characters in his novel. In 1957, the political movements exerted influence on Lao She's thinking, which stimulated his drastic revision to the novel and the republication. After liberation, his patriotism was transforming into socialism. The thesis argues for the influence of the ideology of the nation and Lao She's personal ideology on his creation of and revision to the novel. Writers do not write in a vacuum, nor do translators translate in a vacuum.The ideological manipulation results in noticeable translation methods, namely, rewriting the end, addition and omission of specific plots. The comparison of the two versions has been made in terms of the selection of the ST and acceptance of the TT, linguistic matters as well. Shi Xiaojing's version is faithful to the revised edition of Lao She's novel. She was greatly influenced by the ideology of the Cultural Revolution, traditional morality criterion, acceptance of readers and patronage as well. Evan King's source text is the original version of 1936, and he has rewritten the end of the novel to make a happy ending to meet American readers' expectation. Influenced by the Sexual Revolution, King also added to his translation a lot of details of sex descriptions. As the English-language literature enjoys the central position in the literary system, King felt free to rewrite the literature which is in the peripheral position in the system. These are all proved to be ideological manipulation in translation.From this case study, the paper shows that the translations can be the products of translators' manipulation under the influence of the ideology of the culture and the translator's personal ideology.
Keywords/Search Tags:ideology, manipulation, literary translation, Luotuo Xiangzi
PDF Full Text Request
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