| D.H.Lawrence, as one of the most famous and talented novelists in literary history,wrote his last novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover in1927. The novel was banned for almostthirty years in the literary history because of the bold sexual descriptions. In theChinese Mainland, the novel was introduced to readers in1928that stirred heateddiscussions among scholars. Rao Shuyi’s version was widely accepted and regarded asthe earliest Chinese full version in the1930s, which later was republished in the1980s.Due to the reform and opening-up policy, the prevalent phenomenon of the novel led tothe prosperity of its Chinese versions. In the new century, Hei Ma’s version is adoredby numerous readers because of his exquisite and excellent language skills.On the basis of Andrew Lefevere’s rewriting theory, this thesis is going to exploretwo Chinese versions of the novel which are respectively translated by Rao Shuyi andHei Ma from three elements that are patronage, poetics and ideology. Besides theintroduction and conclusion part, this thesis can be divided into four categories amongwhich the Chapter Four is the main focus. On the aspect of patronage in Chapter Four,it puts emphasis on the publishing houses of two translators. As for Rao Shuyi’spatrons, Beixin House and Hunan People’s Press play an active role in advocating thenovel and promoting literary translations in the1930s. While Hei Ma’s patron CentralCompilation and Translation Press plays an inactive role in publication and interfereswith translator’s strategies concerned on the translation of sex-related languages.On the aspect of poetics in Chapter Four, four categories are accordingly analyzedin this thesis, which are dialects, sex-related languages, culture specific items andannotation. As for the figure’s dialects, Rao Shuyi adopts the non-colloquial wordswhile Hei Ma uses colloquial words. As for the translation of sex, this thesis laysemphasis on the translation tactics of words or phrases concerning on the sexual organsand behaviors. Rao Shuyi applies the way of literal translation and Hei Ma employseuphemisms. On the tactics of culture specific items, rewriting is frequently employedby Rao Shuyi while Hei Ma uses literal translation and adds annotations in his version. And on the category of annotations, Rao Shuyi’s annotations are less in quantities andless detailed in contents than Hei Ma’s.On the aspect of ideology, Rao Shuyi lived in the1930s when the mainstreamideology was mainly focused on the trend of enlightenment thoughts under theinfluence of New Literary Movement. The socialism of Chinese characteristicsdominated in Hei Ma’s time when all kinds of thoughts and writing styles areadvocated in literary circle.Through detailed analysis, it can be concluded that the different strategies adoptedby two translators are mainly originated from the manipulations of their patrons andmainstream ideologies. Deeply influenced by the New Literary Movement and thetrend of enlightenment thoughts, Rao Shuyi has the total freedom to manipulate hisown version, especially on the translation of sexual descriptions, because literarytranslation during the times of the1930s mainly focused on the promotion of socialreformation and people’s enlightenment. Nevertheless, to a certain degree, Rao Shuyiis also controlled by the mainstream ideology. Yet, although the mainstream ideologyin modern society seems to be immersed in an open mind status, rewritings andomissions of the bold sexual words can still be found in Hei Ma’s version because ofthe manipulation of publishing house. Hei Ma, as a translator, seems to only own hisliberty in some language skills such as the translation of dialects, cultural specificitems and annotations. Translators at the present day will still inevitably be restrainedby their patronages when some contents of literary works conflict with the mainstreamideology. |
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