A Comparative Study On Chinese Versions Of The Happy Prince From The Perspective Of Theory Of Poetics

Translation is an intercultural activity manipulated by many factors, such as sociology, culture, history and ideology, etc.. Therefore, the traditional source-text oriented model of translation studies has its congenital limitation, and further development of translation studies calls for a breakthrough of this conventionality. On the basis of Andre Lefevere’s theory of poetics, this paper attempts to make a comprehensive comparative study on three representative Chinese versions of The Happy Prince (namely the one translated by Zhou Zuoren in the1900s, the one translated by Ba Jin in the1940s and the one translated by Yi Xin in contemporary times). Through detailed illustrations of poetological elements in the above three periods and clear comparisons among three Chinese versions with rich analyses and exemplification, the thesis intends to analyze how poetics in each time influences the literary translation process of The Happy Prince on purpose of translation, target readership, children-oriented awareness and translation strategies.The thesis firstly briefly generalizes the objectives, significance, methodology of the study and the structure of the thesis. Next, the thesis briefly reviews the previous studies on Andre Lefevere’s theories in China, introduces Oscar Wilde, his literary works and fairy tales as well as various Chinese versions of The Happy Prince in general and then reviews the previous translation studies on The Happy Prince in China in particular. Serving as the bases of Manipulation Theory, Cultural Turn, Itamar Even-Zohar’s Polysystem Theory, Gideon Toury’s major translation theories and the Manipulation School in translation studies are introduced in the following part. After that, the thesis introduces the evolution of poetics and Andre Lefevere’s Manipulation Theory. Next, as the theoretical foundation of this thesis, theory of poetics and its potential poetological significance on literary translation process and translated works are illustrated in detail. Lastly, the feasibility and necessity of applying this theory to the translation study of three Chinese versions of The Happy Prince is discussed. In the most important chapter of the thesis, in-depth analyses of poetological elements in three periods in which three Chinese versions of The Happy Prince were translated, how the poetics in three different times evolves, and how each of the changing poetics interacts and poetologically manipulates the literary translation process of The Happy Prince in its time are followed by a comprehensive comparative case study of three Chinese versions of The Happy Prince from poetological perspective with typical and persuasive examples. Translation purposes, target readership, children-oriented awareness and translation strategies are illustrated one by one. In the end, the major findings and possible contributions of the thesis are summarized, and limitations and prospects for the future studies are presented.All in all, the study concludes:1) interacting with each other, dominant poetics and translators’ individual poetics collectively manipulate the translating process of The Happy Prince;2) poetological manipulative influence could be identified in the three translator’s purpose of translation, target readership, children-oriented awareness, translation strategies and final presentation of the translated works.The completion of the thesis enriches the literary translation studies on The Happy Prince in a wider socio-cultural context.