Evolution Of Translations From The Perspective Of Deconstructionist Intertextuality

Based on the related theories of deconstruction as well as Bakhtin's study on"polyphony"and"the carnivalization of literature", the famous semiologist Julia Kristeva propounds the notion of intertextuality which deconstructs the structuralist concept of text in a narrow sense, emphasizes the openness and dynamic characteristics of text and accordingly its uncertainty and non-centrality, and concentrates on the intertextual references, induction, contact, infiltration and transfer between and among texts. Meanwhile, the orientation of contemporary translation studies has been transformed from the presupposition of the determinateness of the source text and the author to the concern about the subjects of translation (translator, TT reader, etc.) as well as all possible influences in the process of translating; the textual analysis-based translation studies gradually ascends into comprehensive cultural studies. Thus, when the notion of deconstructionist intertextuality encounters contemporary translation studies in the field of multi-discourse, it provides new and broader angle of view for the multivariate trend of translation studies.From the perspective of deconstructionist intertextuality, this thesis attempts to make a case study of the four retranslated versions of Mao Zedong's poems to investigate the distinct characteristics of each version of special significance in politics, history and culture, and analyze the background and the reasons for the production of these retranslated versions and further the influences of the translator and other participant subjects on the production of the translation and its publication, so as to investigate the intertextual significances behind these reasons and influences.The author discovers that, at the textual level, the translation strategies and methods that the translator adopts as well as the translation of some specifics such as terms actually refer to the experiences and cognition of the translator. When translating, the translator always weaves some traces of the"pre-texts"into his translation consciously or unconsciously. At the para-text level, each of the retranslated versions possesses characteristics in the arrangement of preface, forewords, notes, appendix, etc., which are under the intertextual influences of the social and historical context and out of consideration for commercial interests. With the effects of various elements, the retranslated versions differentiate from and at the same time interrelate with each other, and jointly form a chain of retranslation. On this chain of retranslation, the original work is endowed with new meanings successively corresponding to different social, historical and cultural background and in intertextual context, through which the life of the original work is continued according with the development of readers'demands. Moreover, the retranslated versions shall refer to plenty of intertextual references respectively and further associate to form an unlimited and dynamic intertextual meshwork, so that the meanings of the original work are disseminated to a deeper and broader extent, and thus represent new meanings produced by the new translated versions in new intertextual context. This is– just like biological evolution based on the phenotype changes of the species for fitness– the evolution of translations.