Reflections On Huang Yuanshen’s Chinese Version Of The Picture Of Dorian Gray From The Perspective Of Manipulation Theory

The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of the masterpieces by Oscar Wilde, afamous writer of aestheticism. This thesis attempts to study Huang Yuanshen’sChinese version of this novel from the perspective of ideology, poetics andpatronage. With Lefevere’s Manipulation Theory as the framework, I make theanalysis through comparison between Huang Yuanshen’s version and Rong Rude’sversion. The purpose for comparison is to analyze the language features and overallstyle of Huang’s version in a clearer way.Lefevere is a well-known pioneer in translation studies. With years of effortsand persistence, he first put forward an idea that translation activities should berelated to cultural system. He believes that ideology, poetics and patronage willdefinitely influence the translator’s selection of the original text and translationstrategies. Lefevere holds that translation is equivalent to the rewriting of the originaltext. Different translators live in various social and historical environments. So theirideology and poetics must differ and they need to manipulate their translations tomake sure that their versions conform to the target ideology and dominant poetics inthe given society.This study attempts to analyze Huang Yuanshen’s Chinese version under theguidance of Manipulation Theory through the comparison with Rong Rude’s version.It also attempts to explain that ideology, patronage and dominant poetics willinfluence translators’ strategies, which, in turn, will affect the translations.Through analyzing Huang’s translation, the writer discloses the applicability ofmanipulation theory plus its contribution to establishing translation studies, andproves the impact and guidance on translation practice from manipulative factors.Huang Yuanshen was influenced by ideology, poetics and patronage in histranslation of this novel. The first two factors are more influential and the influencefrom the patronage to the rewriting of the source text is weakened as the openness of the mind and the development of ages. Therefore, we should treat any translationworks with a dispassionate attitude and never ignore the influence of ideology andpoetics and other potential factors to the translation.