Translation As Intercultural Transfer-a Cultural Analysis Of Lin Yutang’s Translation Of Famous Chinese Short Stories

Since the study of translation took its cultural turn in the1980s, the researches ontranslation are no longer limited on the linguistic matters, but started to be operated underthe macro context of history, culture, and society. Translation is no longer merelyconsidered to be the transformation between languages, but also communication betweencultures. A new field of vision on translation studies had been broadened and a newresearch standpoint had been explored. Under this new cultural perspective of translationstudies, an exact equivalent translated version is considered non-exist.As one of the first scholars who initiated the cultural turn, Lefevere brought up therewriting theory, in which he considers all translations are rewritings and are under theinfluence of three constraints: ideological, poetic and patronage. This theory emphasizesthe role of cultural factors, as well as the translator s subjectivity that functions in theprocess of translation, and it offers possible explanations to address the questions such asthe translators selection of source texts, the choice of translation strategies, and theadaptations made to the original texts.Lin Yutang wrote plenty of worldwide acclaimed works while he lived in America, inwhich he translated and introduced massive Chinese classical literature. One characteristicquality of his English works is the fusion of translation and writing. His book FamousChinese Short Stories could be used as one typical example of the rewriting theory. LinYutang wrote and translated with a clear purpose, which was for the transmission of theexotic, traditional Chinese culture to the western world. Under the impact of his translationpurpose and the influence of ideological and poetic constraints, Lin Yutang s translationversion is not absolutely faithful to the original works. Drastic adaptations and alterationshad been done to the source texts. In this thesis, the author aims to use the rewriting theoryto make a tentative in-depth analysis of this translation work from a cultural perspective.This thesis is divided into six sections: the introduction part, chapter one to four, andthe conclusion part. Chapter One is literature review. It reviews the previous researchesconducted on Lin Yutang s translation. Chapter Two introduces the theoretical frameworkadopted in the thesis. Chapter Three gives an introduction of Lin Yutang s cultural background and his works. Chapter Four is the main part in this thesis. It attempts to showthe feasibility of Lin Yutang s translation strategies by making an analysis of his FamousChinese Short Stories, based on Lefevere s rewriting theory.