On The Translated And Reviewed Thomas Pynchon In China

Thomas Pynchon is one of the greatest American postmodernists whose works began to be introduced to China during the early 1980's. With the introduction and translation of Pynchon, he and his works are accepted by the Chinese scholars and readers in various ways.Up to now, the research of Pynchon in China has been mainly reviews and interpretations on his works. To study Pynchon from the perspective of reception is not yet touched upon. This thesis will take the translation and reviewing of Pynchon in China as the focus, to study the reception of Pynchon's works and the variations emerging from the translation practice.In the process of translation, Pynchon's works encounter the loss of meanings and information, the deformation of images and the variation of style. Based on Lefevere and Bassenett's manipulation theory and Mr. Cao Shunqing's variation theory, this thesis will sort out the introduction, reviewing and translation of Thomas Pynchon in China, and figure out the rewriting traces of translation.The frame of the thesis goes as follows:The first chapter serves as the introduction, describing briefly the research on Pynchon in China and summing up the introduction and translation of Pynchon up to the present. This part also presents the methodology and purpose of this thesis.Chapter Two studies the manipulation of the translator on the original work, the translator's rewriting of the original and the cultural influence over the practice. Major translators of Thomas Pynchon will be discussed. Their perspectives and translation practice will be taken into consideration.Chapter Three discusses the manipulation outside the literary system, which affects or determines the reception of Pynchon's works. The manipulation factors concerned are ideology, poetics and patronage in the given era when Pynchon is introduced and translated.Chapter Four takes the translated version of Pynchon's V. as an example to study the rewriting and variation of his works in the target culture.Chapter Five gives a brief summary of the thesis and puts forward related questions for further considerations on the study of Thomas Pynchon.This research involves disciplines of translation studies and comparative literature, focusing on the variations arousing from the translation practice. It intends to study Pynchon in the perspective of cultural studies.