Manipulating The Translation Of Science Fiction

During the process of Chinese literature going global,translation plays a pivotal role.Inspired by the ever increasing interest in translating Chinese literature at home and abroad as well as the Hugo winner The Three-Body Problem,an English translation of a Chinese sci-fi novel,San Ti,the author selects this novel to study the factors that affect the whole translating process,including the selection of ST and translator,manipulation of translator and specific processing of TT,as well as the publication and reception of the English translation.This thesis first introduces the motivation of the case study,and then expounds the development of sci-fi in China,indicating that Chinese sci-fi nowadays is rising and marching toward foreign markets.Then,relevant studies on sci-fi San Ti and its English translation Three-Body Problem are reviewed and summarized.On the basis of an overview of previous researches,this study undertakes the case study from a new perspective to have a macro analysis of the factors affecting the whole translating process and a micro discussion about the processing of TT and the translation strategy and techniques utilized.Thus,the present paper adopts Lefevere's theory of manipulation to conduct a descriptive translation study of the The Three-Body Problem.As one of the most prominent scholars,Lefevere contends that translation should be studied beyond the linguistic level and put into social and cultural context.As described in his seminal monograph Translation,Rewriting and the Manipulation of Literary Fame published in 1992,Lefevere insisted that translation was always manipulated by the factors inside and outside the literary system and summed up main manipulating factors.In consequence,the present study,centered on three main group of factors-patronage,ideology and poetics,investigates the whole translating process of The Three-Body Problem respectively:(1)Based on the translation channels summarized by Eva Hung,the present study identifies the channel through which The Three-Body Problem is chosen to be translated and ultimately accepted by TT readers,thus discovering the patrons involved in this case and expounding how these patrons affect the whole translating process of The Three-Body Problem;(2)With regard to manipulation of ideology,the thesis explores specific constraints under this factor and analyzes the constraints of scientific knowledge,Chinese politics,and feminism that manipulate the translator and his translation respectively;and(3)The manipulation of dominant poetics is mainly reflected on his dealing with the text structure,traditional culture-loaded words and expressions,and characterization,as well as the translation strategy and techniques manifested in the processing.After detailed exemplification,the present study finds:(1)The translating of The Three-Body Problem are affected by ST writer,Cixin Liu,who influences the selection of ST,and literary agent,China Educational Publications Import&Export Corporation Ltd.,which initiates the translating practice of San Ti,and the publisher Tor Books which influences the publication and reception of the English version.(2)Sub-factors under ideology are explored:scientific knowledge constrains the translator to be faithful to ST but also strive for accuracy when tackling particular content concerning the scientific and professional knowledge;constraint of Chinese politics makes the translator endeavor to maintain and manifest the connotation of politics in ST while making TT comprehensible to target readers;the sub-factor of feminism prompts the translator to eliminate cultural conflict and adapt to foreign thoughts when confronted with female issues in TT.(3)From the aspect of poetics,the translator modifies the text structure,combining small sections,dividing the TT into three chapters,and putting the narration of the Cultural Revolution at the beginning of TT.When dealing with Chinese traditional culture,the translator tries to seek the corresponding English expression and fixed expression to improve readers'understanding of TT.The characters ST builds are also vividly reshaped.During the translation process,the translator is supposed to be influenced by the mainstream ideas about sci-fi translation,which are "scientificity","literariness" and "popularity".The translator is faithful to the ST especially in scientific and professional knowledge and seems to abide by the criterion of "scientificity".Footnotes and translation techniques like supplement,omission,and adaption are utilized to fully redisplay Chinese culture and characters and make TT easily understood.Thus,standards of popularity and literariness are seemed to exert influence on the translator.Holistically speaking,the present study analyzes the sub-factors under three main categories that affect the whole translating process.All the three manipulating factors affect the whole translating practice,among which the patronage system mostly influences like selection of ST and translator,and publication of TT from the macro aspects;sub-factors of ideology and dominant poetics attach great importance to the micro issues,exerting large influence on specific processing of TT.As one of the few studies that investigate the translation of Chinese sci-fi,this thesis is expected to provide guidance in terms of selection of ST and the translator,literary agent,and publisher,as well as the processing about specific content in sci-fi for the Chinese sci-fi going global.