Towards A Comparative Literature Approach To Translation Studies

Translation has long been a minor branch of comparative literature in France, America, and Britain and so on, but the case is different in China. Even though there was a clear-cut divide between two translation studies orientations, one linguistic-based and the other a mixture of cultural and literary theory, generally known as "cultural turn" either in west or in China, yet the combination of comparative literature and translation studies is an odd association. For many people, translated literature refers to literary translation. This research thesis, however, starts with the basic theories concerning translated literature and the function of it to a national literature aiming to erect translated literature as a reasonable and promising subject area under the umbrella of comparative literature. The idea of setting up "Translated Literature Study" is grounded on the facts that a comparative literature approach to translation studies can bring new methods and perspectives to traditional translation studies. Meanwhile, TLS in the field of comparative literature does not try to challenge traditional translation studies methods, rather it addresses particular aspects of translation studies that traditional translation studies usually neglect. Therefore, the study of the field serves as a supplementary to translation studies.With case studies at contemporary period, the questions that this research attempts to solve are:What does comparative literature approach deal with within translation studiesand what are the contributions made by this approach?What are the relationships between translated literature and Medi-Transtology~1,translated literature and other literary terms, and also translated literature andliterary translation?What are the functions of translated literature to a national literature (with a case study of the influence of The Sound and the Fury to Mo Yan)? What is the history and position for translated literature in China and why scholars in comparative literature address translation studies?What is the situation of translated literature study in Japan and India? What new light can a comparative translated literature orientation shed on the field in China?It is started out by presenting an overview of conceptions of translation studies and translated literature in comparative literature, on comparisons of Original Literature, Foreign Literature, and National literature, and finally on the differences between translated literature and traditional translation studies. Chapter one of the thesis is theoretical. It deals with the academic values of translated literature as an area under the umbrella of comparative literature by recognizing the paralleled position of the field. The overlaps of translated literature with "cultural turn" and descriptive aspects of translation studies is one of the appealing points of this approach. And also methodology employed in the thesis is mainly descriptive and comparative.Chapter two traces the history of both translated literature and the study of it and also presents an overview of translated literature both in India and Japan in order to shed some light on current situation in China. For some scholars, China is a nation resistant to foreign literature, satisfied with its own culture, and even it does introduce foreign literary works, yet it has the power to absorb everything into its own. The presentation of history in literary translation may give a general panorama of literary translation development and testify the importance of literary translation to domestic literature. Moreover, both Japan and India have a relatively prosperous literature among nations in Asia, thus their openness and exchanges with English countries in literature can demonstrate the importance of translation in helping inspiring domestic creative writing and shaping a literary canon. A large part of this chapter is Chinese characterized since it is a research on Chinese translation traditions. Both theoretical and historical views of translated literature are essential for the recognition and further development of it.In chapter three, the particular case of influence of The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner to Red Sorghum is taken to illustrate how and in what aspects a foreign literary work can influence domestic literary writing and movement. To list all the positive aspects brought by literary translation is by no means possible in this short chapter. To locate my research into a certain period in history may be a reasonable choice, but the current literature towards the influence study seems all concentrate on changes in late Qing Dynasty. Even if I want to summarize the changes in contemporary time, my knowledge of the whole situation is far from being comprehensive. Therefore, I chose specific modern writers, with their works easily being accessed to and known to contemporary readers. This chapter is led by a general introduction of translated literature's function, followed by introduction of William Faulkner and reception of his The Sound and the Fury in America and then its translation and reception in China, more importantly, its influence to Chinese literature. Detailed analysis of theme, narrative method, characters depiction and family history is presented to illustrate the direct influence from William Faulkner to Mo Yan.The fourth chapter will be devoted to research on how translated literature affects traditional translation studies in terms of translation theories and practices. To traditional translation studies, translated literature is more supplementary than subversive. The shifts of constellation in translation studies triggered by study on translated literature are mainly contemporary descriptive and "cultural turn" approaches, largely drawn from poststructuralist perspectives, which pay particular attention to the importance of historicizing the translator's practice, recognizing the translator as a visible agent, and conceptualizing translation as form of writing that unfolds within complex interactions and negotiations. In this part, I will investigate how publications of translation studies on how the approach has participated in constructing shifts from traditional translation studies and what are the real benefits of the comparative approach to translation studies.