A Probe Into The First Female Translators At The Beginning Of20c In China

The end of19thcentury to the beginning of20thcentury witnessed a suffering andvicissitude-stricken China. China was forced to open its gate to the greedy outside worldand embarked on the journey of getting contact with the other side of the earth. Therewere enormous communication between China and western world. Translation, consideredas a tool to save the country, bridged this kind of communication.Translation at that time ushered in its another booming period in the history. Manyenlightened people devoted to this activity and contributed to its prosperity. At thishistorical turning point, numerous eliminate translators came onto stage including LiangQichao, Lin Qinna, Yan Fu, Ma Junwu and so on. They altogether unfolded the curtain ofmodern translation career. Historically, they were sparkling and draw much attention, theirtranslations greatly welcomed and applauded, even setting rules and examples for the latertranslation activity. Days on, research of these male translators never ceases. Yet, seldomdid attention paid to another remarkable group who also vigorously participated in theactivity of translation—the female translators.This thesis centered on the first female translators who came into sight at thebeginning of the20thcentury. Their appearance had close connection with then socialbackground which at the same time influenced their choices in dealing with translation.This thesis will show the number of the female translators and their main translation works,later it mainly studies the female translators’ choices of the originals: in which languagethe original was written, the genres of the original and the themes of the original. Theauthor will carry out a general combing work of the female translators’ choices and dig intothe deep attributes to their choices. Meanwhile, analysis of their translations is alsoresearched: the domestication inclination in the translations, language style they turn to aswell as the cause to their way of dealing. The last part is the contribution and defect of thefemale translators.This thesis tends to display a general picture of the first female translators in the beginning of20thcentury instead of merely detailed text-based analysis or separateresearch of one or two single representatives. Their involvement at that specific time intranslation activity is also worth researching which contains academic meanings to laterstudies in related respect and is helpful to exhibit a complete picture of translation in thatbackdrop.