A Study Of Zheng Zhenduo’s Translation Of Tagore From Manipulation Theory

Zheng Zhenduo was one of the pioneers in the May4th Movement. He was not only a litterateur, artist, and archaeologist, but also an excellent translator. Zheng’s viewpoints on translation were unique, and his translated works set an example in the translation field at that time. Both Zheng’s translation opinions and his translation practice functioned as guidance. In writing, Zheng’s poetry and prose were most influential. As to translation, his translation of Tagore’s prose poetry was preeminent.Because the author takes special interest in Zheng Zhenduo’s translation viewpoints and Tagore’s poetry, this thesis chooses the translated versions of Tagore’s representatives Stray Birds and The Crescent Moon by Zheng Zhenduo as the research material, and discusses from the perspective of the manipulation theory. This thesis attempts to make people understand Mr. Zheng’s function and position as a translator better, and supply a new research angle to those who mean to have a deeper understanding of Zheng’s translation opinions. Based on the manipulation theory, the thesis analyzes China’s dominant ideology in the1920s as well as Zheng Zhenduo’s personal ideology, expounds the role that the translated literature played and the reform of linguistic norms in the1920s, and stated the restriction of Zheng Zhenduo’s translation activities from Literary Research Association and the Commercial Press. Next the author analyzes the influence of the manipulative factors---ideology, poetics, and patronage on Zheng’s choosing translation texts, translation strategies, and translation techniques. At last, this thesis discusses the positive effect of Zheng’s translation of Tagore on Zheng’s poetic creation as well as the Chinese new poetry. This thesis studies manipulating factors of the process of translation based on the case of Zheng’s translation of Tagore to interpret and prove the existence of manipulation. The author holds that we could get a more comprehensive and objective viewpoint on translation and master the essence of translation from the perspective of extralinguistic factors such as ideology, poetics, and patronage.