A Study On Chi-Chen Wang’s English Translation Of Hongloumeng From The Perspective Of Rewriting Theory

Traditional studies on translation have generally been source-text-oriented, focusing on text comparison and translation criteria. Since the "cultural turn" in the1980s, translation theorists have shifted their attention to translation studies beyond the scope of traditional perspectives. Since then, translation studies have gradually been changed to such broader issues as culture, history, ideology, power oriented areas and so on. Andre Lefevere is a prominent western scholar who puts forward the theory of rewriting. According to rewriting theory, the process of translation is manipulated by ideology, poetics and patronage and all translations are rewritings to certain degrees in a certain culture under the influence of various factors, which provides a new historical and descriptive perspective for translation studies.Chi-chen Wang’s two abridged translations of Hongloumeng were born in1929and1958respectively. Both published by the native Anglo-American best-selling presses, the two versions are targeted on native English readers, therefore, in Wang’s two versions, many adaptations have to be made from the original in order to upgrade the degree of readability and acceptability of the target language readers.The present thesis is a study of Chi-chen Wang’s two English abridged translations of Hongloumeng, from the perspective of Andre Lefevere’s rewriting theory. Firstly, a detailed analysis will be carried out into the two selected versions, mainly focusing on two aspects, the adaptation of contents and cultural elements, trying to find out what selection, adjustment and modification have the translator made in each of the two versions. And then through analyzing the dominant ideology, poetics and patronage, the thesis tends to explore the reasons of Chi-Chen Wang’s adaptations from the angle of rewriting theory.The study of the manipulative processes of the two versions is hoped to be of practical use on the study of rewriting theory. And it is also intended to help us towards a greater awareness of the history and culture where they came out, thus enriches the study of the dissemination and translation of Hongloumeng in the western countries,...