An Analysis Of The English Version Of Turbulence From Lefevere's Manipulation Theory

Turbulence is a realistic full-length novel written by Jia Pingwa in the 1980s and the first volume of his "Shangzhou Series". The novel is about the stories of Golden Dog, Water Girl, Lei Dakong and a few other young guys living upon the bank of Zhou River. They are of distinctive characters and pursue their dreams tirelessly. Turbulent water, turbulent heart and turbulent towns and villages are intertwined into a piece of bitter-sweet music, presenting the good and evil of humanity and the greedy for money and power. Turbulence won the 8th Pegasus Prize for Literature in 1988. Thereafter, the Mobil Company (now the Exxon Mobil) hired Howard Goldblart to translate this book, which helped to enhance Jia's presence and reputation in the literary circle overseas.Andre Lefevere is a western master of translation and one of the representatives of the Cultural School. His studies mainly focused on the ideological, poetic and cultural elements of translation. His thoughts drew inspiration from both the manipulation theory and the wider Cultural School, contributing to the development of translation theories. In his book, Translation, Rewriting and the Manipulation of Literary Fame, he put forward the famous "Manipulation Theory", which includes three manipulative factors:ideology, poetics and patronage.Under Andre Lefevere'Manipulation Theory, this thesis will list a number of translation examples and illustrate how the English version of Turbulence is influenced by the three manipulative factors. Through analysis, this thesis aims at drawing inspirations from the successful promotion of Turbulence overseas and facilitating the going global process of other contemporary Chinese literary works.