A Study On Eileen Chang’s Self-Translation Of The Golden Cangue

As a unique phenomenon of translation, self-translation is regarded as a significant branch of translation studies. However, self-translation doesn’t enjoy enough attention as it deserves. For a long period in the past, self-translation was marginalized or even overlooked by the translation scholars. Since the Cultural Turn, self-translation began to attract attention from translation scholars. Owing to the introduction by Sussan Bassnett, self-translation has attracted much attention from the scholars and researchers. Self-translation is sharply different from the general translation, because self-translator has double identifications and enjoys more freedom and initiative in the process of self-translation. In addition, self-translator can extend the life of the source text through self-translating. So, broadly speaking, self-translation can be considered as a creative activity of rewriting.The rewriting theory is put forward by the Cultural School, with Andre Lefevere as its key representative. It puts translation under the macro contexts into study and aims to examine how the macro factors manipulate the translation. Lefevere holds that all rewritings have particular intentions. However, no matter what intention these rewritings have, they embody a specific ideology and a certain poetics which control the functions of literature in the given society by a certain way. Translation is the main method of rewriting. In Lefevere’s view, all translations are rewritings of the original text. Even the most loyal translation is also a form of rewriting. And thereby, translation is also influenced by the main ideology and poetics as well as its patronage. As a special form of translation, self-translation is not the self-translator’s arbitrary or random action but an activity manipulated by these macro factors (ideology, poetics and patronage). During the process of self-translation, self-translator must take into consideration the influence from the main ideology and poetics as well as patronage. In addition, self-translator’s personal ideology and poetics also play a key role in her or his self-translation.As an outstanding self-translator, Chang has made a great contribution to self-translation. Both her large number of self-translation and her distinctive self-translation style deserve much attention. Her self-translation of The Golden Cangue is a great success. The Golden Cangue was released in America and collected into C.T. Hsia’s Twentieth-century Chinese Stories in1971. It is highly appreciated by the western critics and scholars and is widely read among the western readers. So, this thesis centers on Eileen Chang’s self-translation of The Golden Cangue based on the rewriting theory. Such a research is undertaken by descriptive translation studies. The author aims to probe into the influential elements in the process of Eileen Chang’s self-translating The Golden Cangue and further to expound how the factors (the ideology and poetics, patronage) beyond text exert impact on Chang’s self-translation of The Golden Cangue.First, this thesis explores self-translation and the key concepts of the rewriting theory. And then it makes an introduction of the self-translator Eileen Chang and her self-translation The Golden Cangue. After that, the author analyzes the process of Eileen Chang’s self-translation of The Golden Cangue, discussing its publication and Chang’s self-translation strategies. During the self-translation of The Golden Cangue, Chang takes into full consideration the influence of American dominant ideology and poetics in the1970s, the purpose of patronage C.T. Hsia; in addition, her personal ideology and poetics play a vital part. And thereby, Chang gives priority to foreignization strategies rather than domestication strategies in the process of self-translating The Golden Cangue. She mainly adopts literal translation, transliteration and literal translation plus footnotes. Even, she exactly retains images and the structure to export Chinese traditional culture to the west. After analyzing the self-translation of The Golden Cangue, it can be arrived at a conclusion that the self-translation of The Golden Cangue is not Chang’s arbitrary action but a creative self-translation activity which is resulted from American dominant ideology and poetics at a given period, C.T. Hsia’s intention, and Chang’s personal ideology and poetics. This study, to some degree, will give some enlightenment to the following study on self-translation and Eileen Chang’s works.