Reflections On The Applicability Of Polysystem Theory From The Interplay Between Translated Literarure And National Literature In The May4^th Period

The polysystem theory is a culture theory proposed by the Israel scholar, ItamarEven-Zohar in the1970s. This theory overthrows the linguistic-based paradigm oftranslation stuides, which is source-language oriented and stresses faithfulness andequivalence. It claims that translation studies should be placed in a historical andsocio-cultural context and employs the systemic approach to describe the translationprocess, product and function in an objective way. The polysystem theory attempts toseek norms beyond the text, intepreting and anticipating the translational phenomenathemselves, which reinforces the contextual function of target-language and explores anew domain for translation studies. Transalted literature and national literature of theMay4th Period interwine, influence, and promote each other and establish a rewardinginteractive relationship. The interplay betwwen translated literature and nationallitearture is directly and specifically represented by the writer and translator’s literarytranslation and creation, while in the period of the May4th, Lu Xun and Lin Yutangare the most outstanding representatives among the numerous elites. Since the birth ofpolysystem theory, it has attracted extensive attention in the academic circles at homeand abroad. The domestic academia has procured abundant achievements, yet thetypical problem is that research concerning the applicability of the theory is far fromsufficient. Opinions vary on whether the theory is applicable to study the specificperiod of Chinese translated literature history.In order to fill this research gap, the present research first and foremost proposes ahypothesis that Polysystem theory does have applicabilty to interpreting the translatedliterature in the May4th Period. Simultaneously, employing the descriptive approachof PST(PST is short for Polysystem theory in the whole thesis), the author depicts theimpacts of translated lietarture upon national literature in the literary level. Besides,based on those viewpoints of PST correlated with the dynamic relation of translatedand national literature in the literary polysysytem, the author explores the relationshipbetween the May4th translated literature and the target-language literary polysystem,at the same time, there is an objective analysis of translators’ startegies and slections of source-texts. In this way, the athuor aims to set up a model about the interactiverealtionship of the May4th translated literature and national literature and testifies thehypothesis proposed. The study reveals that PST has its applicabilty in intepreting thetranslated lietarture of a specific period as a whole under the historical, socio-culturalcontext yet it has little explanatory power on the interplay between individualtranslator’s literary translation and creation. The present research, theoretically, is ofpostive significance to the development of Chinese translation theory along withbroadening translation studies in the fields of literature, culture and history. In practice,it can serve as a model for studying other periods in Chinese translated literaturehistory.