A Study Of The Formation And Spreading Of Lu Xun’s Translation Thought From The Perspective Of Paratext

The term "paratext" was coined by French literary theorist, Gérard Genette, in1987. Then in1997, Genette’s work was translated into English by Jane E. Lewin andgot published by Cambridge University Press. The concept refers to all the materialsthat surround the "main text". In translation studies, the main text refers to the body ofthe translated works. Paratex can be subdivided into peritext and epitext based on thedistance of paratextual element to the "main text". Peritextual materials are the oneswhich are closer to the main text. The cover of a book, the publisher’s information, themain title and the subtitle, prefaces, postscripts, notes, etc, all belong to peritextualelements. Other paratextual elements which are located at a distance from the maintext such as interview, correspondence, diaries, etc are defined as "epitext". For a longtime, the focus of the traditional translation study is put on the analysis of the maintext, while, the surrounding materials are very often being ignored. The roles of theparatextual materials in making the translator being visible, producing the platform fortranslators to express their thoughts, manipulating and affecting the readers’acceptance of the text, etc are long being neglected.Lu Xun study has all the time been a hot topic. The dominant research is laid onhis reputation and status as a writer, while the study for Lu Xun as a translator has notaroused enough attentions. The relevant achievements are very limited. Judging byamount, Lu Xun’s translated works surpasses his written works; judging by time, healso started translation earlier than writing. As the pioneer of the May FourthMovement and the great writer, the great thinker, Lu Xun made some extraordinaryremarks about translation, which are of great value to the development of Chinesetranslation history. Most of his translation thoughts can be spotted in the paratextualmaterials like prefaces and correspondences, etc. By analyzing these paratextualmaterials, this thesis, on the one hand, pointed out the specific display of thetransformation of Lu Xun’s translation thought from free translation to literaltranslation as well as the specific grounds for the formation of his literal translation thought through analyzing Lu Xun’s words in the prefaces and postscripts as well as insome articles lecturing translation; on the other hand, this thesis also concluded thatseveral paratextual elements such as the great amount of prefaces and postscripts, thepromotion of the publisher, and the appealing power of Lu Xun’s reputation, etc playgreat contributing roles to the spreading of Lu Xun’s translation thought.Paratext study is significant for translation studies in that paratextual materials canhelp uncover a translator’s translation thought, providing communicating platformbetween translators and readers, analyzing the publication and spreading of translatedworks, etc. The combination of paratext study with translation study can not onlybroaden the research method of translation study, enrich the perspective of Lu Xuntranslation study, but also provide a new angle for analyzing other translator’stranslation thoughts.