A Study On Sidney Shapiro's Translation Of Xin Ernv Yingxiong Zhuan From The Perspective Of Eco-Translatology

Eco-translatology, an interdisciplinary translation theory, was put forward by Professor Hu Gengshen, who brings "natural selection" and "survival of the fittest" of ecology into translatology, thus opening up a new perspective to translation studies. Eco-translatology puts translation activity into a macro eco-environment, so as to conduct studies on translator's adaption to eco-environment at macro level, and translator's selection on the translated version at micro level.At the beginning of the founding of new China, external translation was at its climax, and Sidney Shapiro is one of the most outstanding translators. During his 50 years of translation career, Shapiro has acted as an ardent disseminator of Chinese culture, devoting himself to constructing real Chinese cultural image to western readers. During that time, external translation bore the responsibility of promoting political and cultural influence, establishing a new national image and fostering a sound international environment for national construction. Thus, in that special environment, Shapiro would be confronted with such questions as how to adapt to the realistic requirements of China's external publicity and how to make Chinese culture fit and be accepted in a different environment. These happen to coincide with adaptation and selection of eco-translatology. Xin Ernv Yingxiong Zhuan is the first red novel that was published in America after the founding of new China, and it is also the first peak of Shapiro's translation career. Therefore, from the perspective of eco-translatology, this thesis takes the translation of Xin Ernv Yingxiong Zhuan as an example to explore how Shapiro adapts to the translational eco-environment of the time and how he makes three dimensional transformation.The research finds that China's special political environment of that time influenced the overall translational eco-environment to a large degree. Shapiro's multi-dimensional adaptation to the eco-environment is the premise of his undertaking external translation. On one hand, translating Xin Ernv Yingxiong Zhuan meets both his own desire to introduce Chinese culture to western countries and China's demand of external publicity; on the other, his mastery of English and Chinese, cross-cultural awareness and revolutionary complex enable him to have a deep understanding of revolution-themed literary works, so that he can represent the original contents and implications accurately. At the same time, Shapiro makes wise transformation in linguistic, cultural and communicative dimensions. He follows the simple and plain writing style of the original text, and represents the peculiar speaking style of the main characters; in translating history and culture with Chinese characteristics, Shapiro preserves the original cultural image and connotation, and adds necessary explanations to those contents that are unfamiliar or incomprehensible to western readers; for the sake of conveying the main idea of the source text, Shapiro successfully reproduces and strengthens revolutionary heroic images and revolutionary spirits through revision, abridgement and other translation methods.This study serves as a further testimony to the claim that eco-translatology holds explanatory power to translation. It is also expected to enrich and broaden studies on Shapiro's translation and shed some light on how translators should make appropriate transformation under the premise of adaptation to eco-environment in external translation.