| Taking rewriting theory as the framework, the thesis makes a tentative research into the three constraints manipulating the rewriting of The Gay Genius:The Life and Times of Su Tungpo:ideology, poetics and patronage. It also tries to illustrate how ideology and poetics dictate the basic strategies Lin Yutang adopted and therefore the solutions to problems concerned with "universe of discourse" and language. By doing so, the thesis intends to research into the biographies by Lin Yutang from a new perspective. It is also a positive attempt to apply rewriting theory to the analysis of biographical literature.The Gay Genius:The Life and Times of Su Tungpo was considered by Lin Yutang the best book he had ever written. After its publication, professional and nonprofessional readers in Europe and America began to show great interest in Su Tungpo, which proves the canonization of the image of Su Tuongpo constructed by Lin Yutang’s rewriting. Leading a cheerful life even in times of misfortune, the Su Tungpo in Lin’s biography is not just a great literati but an ordinary and highly optimistic human being as well, which makes this biography distinct from those by other scholars. Therefore, we can say the rewriter Lin Yutang obviously heavily manipulated his re-portrayal of Su Tungpo. Then, what was it that manipulated Lin’s rewriting? What were the most important controlling factors if there were many? What made Lin select certain texts instead of others?This study is conducted in the light of rewriting theory, which, put forward by Lefevere, hammers at describing the process of translation (rewriting). Putting rewriting in the social context, the theroy points out that rewriting is controlled by certain constraints, for example, ideology, poetics and patronage while at the same time function in the target culture. Hence, it is hypothesized that (1) the rewriting of Su Tungpo is manipulated by such controlling factors as ideology, poetics and patronage, among which the rewriter’s ideology might have played a more important part;(2) Lin’s selection of basic strategies and the solution to problems concerned with "universe of discourse" and language are manipulated mostly by ideological and poetological constraints.Based on a descriptive approach as manifested in the rewriting theory of Lefevere, this study comes to the following conclusion:(1) rewriting theory can be applied to the descriptive analysis of the biographical works by Lin Yutang;(2) biographical literary is heavily manipulated by ideology, poetics and patronage; the selection of basic translation strategies and the interpretation of historical facts by the biographer result directly from the manipulation of ideology and poetics, especially those of the biographer.Limited both in time and extend, this thesis mainly focuses on the analysis of the ideological and poetological manipulation of Su Tungpo. However, it is advisable that further study be conducted on the manipulation exerted by patronage to improve the reference value of the findings. In addition, the translations in this book deserve much more attention than the thesis has paid for the distinctive features they bear in order to fit in the narration. |
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