| Lu Xun, a great writer and ideologist of modern China, is one of the pioneers of the May 4th Movement and a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. He has exerted huge influence on China’s social ideology and culture ever since the May 4th Movement. Among the numerous writings Lu Xun had accomplished throughout his life, such as essays, short stories, poets, short stories are of exceptional importance. Lu Xun’s short stories reveal the various social conflicts in feudal China facing deep national crisis and social turmoil, bitterly attack on the feudal ethics and ideas prevailing in the old society and also express Lu Xun’s deep concern for the national fate and strong desire for social revolution. Since publication in the early 20th century, Lu Xun’s short stories have been translated into over 50 languages and earned wide acclaim from overseas readers. Among the various language versions, English version is the most influential. Up till now, there are in total 18 scholars who have translated and published Lu Xun’s short stories. All of these different versions have jointly facilitated the spread of Lu Xun’s influence in the West and even the whole world, enhancing foreign readers’ interest in and understanding of modern and contemporary Chinese literature, Chinese culture and Chinese society.Over the past few years, translation theoretical research has witnessed fast development, and an interdisciplinary research approach to translation research has become a rising trend which is attached with more and more importance by the translation circle. In her monograph Translation and Conflict:A Narrative Account published in 2006, Mona Baker unprecedentedly applies the narrative theory based on social and communication theory to translation research. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, Baker has brought new insights into the current translation research. The narrative theory elaborates how translators use various framing strategies to accentuate, undermine or modify certain aspects of original narrative, with a view to constructing social reality and exerting specific influence.In consideration of the unparalleled status of the Yangs in the English translation of Chinese literature and the latest explanation of Lu Xun’s short stories by the famous sinologist Julia Lovell, this text is designated to make a comparative study on the English translation of Lu Xun’s short stories within the framework of Mona Baker’s narrative theory based on the two versions finished by the Yangs and Julia Lovell, and analyze how the translators use such framing strategies as temporal and spatial framing, selective appropriation of textual material, labeling framing and repositioning of participants to reframe narratives embedded in the source text. The 1960 edition was translated by the Yangs in the 1950s when China was fresh from the WWII and had just established the new China. Aside from introducing Chinese literature and culture abroad, the translation also carried China’s wishes to get rid of the evils of the old society by proceeding socialist construction and reform, and played an important role in establishing a positive national image across the world. Entering into the 21st century, the whole world is now giving more and more attention to China due to its increasing international significance. Julia Lovell’s translation of Lu Xun’s short stories, has not only brought Lu Xun to a wider audience and promoted the "going global" course of modern and contemporary Chinese literature, but also largely strengthened the world’s interpretation of and reflection on a series of social problems in China today behind its fast political and economic development. The two groups of translators successively imposed their own ontological narratives on social public narratives by adopting various framing strategies in the English translation of Lu Xun’s short stories, and achieved the goals of constructing reality. |
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