A Study On The English Translation Of The Analects: An Ideological Dimension

As the representative of Confucianism, The Analects is hailed as the treasure of Chinese Classics. It has a long translation history with numerous versions, providing a good case for the translation of other Chinese classics. Under the promotion of the “going out” strategy for Chinese culture, the English translation of The Analects plays significant academic value and far-reaching strategic significance. But now, rare studies make a comprehensive exploration of its translation from the viewpoint of historical development. This thesis makes an analysis of the English translation of The Analects from ideological dimension in order to probe into its translation process and translator’s value orientation and translation strategy.After the cultural turn of translation studies in the 1980 s, more and more cultural and some other non-linguistic factors related to translation activities have entered into the field of translation studies, among which ideology has been concerned by many scholars and come to prominence. Ideology is the result of culture at a certain society and inseparable from sociocultural context. As an activity of intercultural communication, translation is inevitably subject to the interference of ideology at a certain society and time. The ideological dimension presents a broader field for translation studies in which translation is no longer regarded as a simple language-transferring matter, but a site for ideological clashes, encounters, compromises and challenges.This thesis, on the basis of social dominant ideology and translator’s individual ideology, explores the English translation activities of The Analects from the aspects of translator’s selection of the source text, belief, education background, academic experience and some other non-linguistic factors in the sociocultural context. Through the analysis of the collected versions, it finds that translator’s selection of The Analects is closely linked to China’s national strength and cultural development. After the exploration of five typical versions(from Legge, Ku Hungming, D. C. Lau, Ames & Rosemont and Xu Yuanchong), it presents how translator’s ideology influences his translation motivation and his understanding of Confucianism, and then manipulates his translation strategy; finally it concludes that the versions of The Analects are various, but they are inclined to the direction that approaches to a middle position by considering the source text, target culture as well as the requirements of the reader. Through the ideological dimension study, this thesis overview the English translation activities of The Analects and draws some helpful experiences from the process of translation, in hope of making some contributions to promoting the translation of other Chinese classics and further improving the transmission of Chinese culture.