A Study On Indirect Translation From The Perspective Of Polysystem

The present research studies indirect translation from the socio-cultural perspective. Indirect translation as a translational phenomenon exists both in China and abroad. If it's studied just from the traditional perspective (i.e. faithfulness), it's obviously not faithful. However, the "cultural turn" in translation studies in 1970s has changed researchers' notion towards translation. Since then, translation has been regarded as cultural facts in the target culture, and the researchers began to study various translations within the socio-culture. From the perspective, the researches on indirect translation are culturally significant. This thesis thus explores indirect translation in literary system from 1898 to 1919 within the socio-culture in this period, trying to provide the overall situation of indirect translation in the period, the choice of mediating language(s), the interaction between indirect translation and socio-cultural system, and the interaction between indirect translation and literary system.This study, by adopting an integrated model of Polysystem theory and translation norms as its theoretical framework, discusses indirect translation in the period. Inspired by the stratification of Polysystem, the present research conceived socio-culture as a system one of whose sub-systems is indirect translation. The relational instincts among systems provided a new perspective for the present study—there are interactions between indirect translation and socio-cultural system and its other sub-systems. Translation norms laid a theoretical foundation to investigate norms of socio-culture beneath indirect translation. The research conclusions are as follows:(1) Influenced by socio-cultural awareness of "learning from the West" and "enlightening Chinese people", the translators chose acceptability as initial norm, which justifies the existence of indirect translation in this period. The number of people learning in Japan and the Japanese learners kept rising. Besides, abundant western books were translated into Japan in Meiji period. So the tolerance of indirect translation with Japanese as a preferred mediating language is preliminary norm of the period.(2) Indirect translation plays an important role in enriching the socio-cultural system. The Romanticism was brought into China, which influenced many Chinese intellectuals in the period. The borrowed words from Japanese came to modern Chinese because of indirect translation, which not only enrich modern Chinese vocabulary, but promote the development of modern vernacular Chinese movement as well;(3) The turning point of literary system leads to abundant indirect translations. The indirect translation also influences literary system, which is reflected in the import of new novel types and expansion of literature horizons;(4) Indirect translation as a translation type is complementary to direct translation.