A Study On Pearl Buck's All Men Are Brothers From The Perspective Of Rewriting Theory

Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (1892-1973) is not only the first writer to win the Nobel Prize for literature in the world for her novels of Chinese-subject and her biographies, but also the first translator to translate the seventy-chapter edition of Shui Hu Zhuan, a famous Chinese classical novel, into English. For a long time, researches have been focused on her achievements and contributions as a novelist and a community leader. However, insufficient attention is paid to Pearl's English version of Shui Hu Zhuan -- All Men Are Brothers, which cost her nearly 5 years, and no systematic and in-depth study has been made on her translation.Andre Lefevere is the most important representative of Manipulation School, and Rewriting Theory is one of the important theories in contemporary translation field. Rewriting Theory points out that the process of translation is manipulated by ideology, poetics and patronage. It emphasizes that translations are neither made in a vacuum nor received in a vacuum. All translations are rewritings of various degrees in a certain culture under the influence of various factors.Taking Rewriting Theory of Andre Lefevere as a framework, this thesis makes a case study of the first abridged English edition of Shui Hu Zhuan -- All Men Are Brothers translated by Pearl to demonstrate in which aspects this work is a rewriting of the original text. By putting Pearl's translated text in context, this thesis also shows how Pearl's All Men Are Brothers is manipulated by ideology, poetics and patronage in the process of translation.This thesis consists of four chapters besides the introduction and the conclusion.The introduction concentrates on the research background of Rewriting Theory, the research questions and significance of the present study.Chapter one is a literature review. Firstly an introduction is given to previous studies of Pearl's All Men Are Brothers. Then tentative comment is made on previous studies.Chapter two is theoretical framework. In this chapter Lefevere's Rewriting Theory concerning ideology,poetics and patronage is mainly discussed.The main part of this thesis is chapter three and chapter four.Chapter three gives a macro-analysis of the factors affecting the process of Pearl's translating activity. It is found that:the translator's ideology has some effect on the choice of source text, the concrete edition and the translation of the novel's title; the translator's poetics affects the thematic choice, generic choice and language style of translation; patronage also has some effect on the translating process, the publicity and acceptance of All Men Are Brothers.Chapter four is concrete text--analysis. Through a comparison of the target text and the source text, the author points out that the rewriting as manifested in All Men Are Brothers is in content, language and form.The thesis draws a conclusion based on the above analysis:Pearl is influenced by her own ideology, poetics and patronage during the process of translation. All Men Are Brothers is a rewriting of Shui Hu Zhuan in content, language and form.