Creative Treason

With the publication of The Novels of Eileen Chang, written by Xun Yu, which is Fu Lei’s penname in the1940s, the studies of Eileen Chang are gradually increasing at home and abroad. However, among the magnificent "Studies of Eileen Chang", the research on her translation is hysteretic, especially on her self-translation, which has risen just these years. Relatively speaking, it is quite inadequate and deficient. The study result which has already been made has brought out the attention on Eileen Chang’s self-translation. It provides a good atmosphere for the study on the literary self-translation, meanwhile there remains some insufficiency and blank space, which is mainly represented in the following aspects:The research on Eileen Chang’s self-translated texts mainly concentrated on her novels without much concentration on her prose, scarcely even when it is discussed, that is only the general situation but not the further inquiry of the specific texts; The scholars are mostly limited on the linguistic aspect of Eileen Chang’s self-translation, few of them has been focused on it from the angle of medio-translatology, which is a quite broader perspective. Compared with general translation, the literary self-translation reflects the self-translator’s active cross-literary and cross-cultural conscious more obviously. Thus the study on literary self-translation will get a more comprehensive grasp and a further understanding from a view of medio-translatology.This thesis cuts into the aspect of Eileen Chang’s prose self-translation, whose genre is seldom been focused on, meanwhile the thesis takes medio-translatology, especially its core concept" creative treason " as the theory frame. Besides, it chooses some specific text as a typical case in order to make detailed discussion. Her English prose has an obvious phenomenon of bi-literature and bi-culture in both the creating and self-translating process, which sufficiently reflects her skilled application and grasp of the different languages and cultures. After the discussion of her prose self-translation’s value, with the theory of medio-translatology and western modern translation, this thesis focuses on the analysis of specific self-translating process, attempting to interpret the distinctive phenomenon in Eileen Chang’s prose self-translation——underlying translation in English creation and creative treason in Chinese self-translation. From the above, the characteristics in her English prose self-translation can be found and her effort on the constructing of bi-cultural identity can be presented. On the basis of further analysis of the factors and influence beyond the prose self-translation’s texts, this thesis gradually reveals the enlightenment on the cross-literary and cross-cultural communication in today’s translation field.The significance for this study:First, widening the field of self-translation studies. Through the analysis of Eileen Chang’s English prose self-translation which is scarcely been discussed, it probes into this blank space preliminary. Second, with the theory of medio-translatology, this thesis tries to provide new views for the internal study of self-translated works, making clear the special value and characteristics on the literal and cultural level of her English prose self-translation. Third, focusing on the phenomenon of the underlying translation and creative treason during the process of this self-translation, which is also a process of back-translation. Thus her special bi-cultural angle and subjective self-translators’attainment can be presented; meanwhile, the useful enlightenment on the translation field can be turned out. Fourth, offering fresh elements and practical grounds for the whole study on Eileen Chang’s literature especially on her literary self-translation.