A Comparative Study On Two Chinese Translations Of The Good Earth From The Perspective Of Ideological Manipulation

Since 1970 s,there has emerged a shift in the field of translation studies,from the level of pure linguistics to the influence and manipulation of all kinds of cultural factors in translation practice.With this “Cultural Turn” in translation studies,research on translation practice has then been put in the broader cultural context,which means that it will focus not only on the intrinsic approach to the transforms of texts but also on the external exploration which emphasize the influence of ideology,culture and history on translation practice.The research fields have thus been widened and a new perspective has been provided.To consider translation studies in a broader social background is the feature of Levefere's translation thoughts and translation is regarded as one manifestation of social ideology in this perspective.Ideology is a very important factor which exerts influences on translation practice.This thesis has conducted a comparative study on two Chinese versions of The Good Earth from the perspective of Ideological Manipulation to find out if ideology affects the process of translating as well the similarities and differences between the two Chinese versions under such influences.One of the versions was translated by Hu Zhongchi and was published by Kaiming Booking Company in 1933.The other was translated by Wang Fengzhen and was published by People's Publishing House in 2010.By comparing the above two versions with descriptive methodology in a qualitative study,this thesis has respectively depicted the social cultural backgrounds and the dominant ideologies of both Chinese versions and comparatively analyzed the translation process of both translators from the perspective of Ideological Manipulation,which includes the Ideological Manipulation over selecting source texts before translating,selecting translation methods during the process of translation and the publishing of the translations after they have been accomplished.The major research findings are as following: both Hu Zhongchi and Wang Fengzhen were influenced by ideology in translating The Good Earth into Chinese and there exists similarities and differences in their translating processes under the influence of different ideological factors.This entire thesis consists of five parts.The first chapter makes a general synopsis of this thesis,which includes: the research background,the corresponding research purpose and significance,the research questions and the methodology and the structure of the thesis.The second chapter is literature review,it provides a readable and systematic review of the related literature on the application of Ideological Manipulation in translation studies and sorts outthe translation history of The Good Earth as well as the previous studies on its Chinese translations.The third chapter serves as the theoretical foundation of this thesis,which includes five parts: the origin and development of the “Cultural Turn”,the social-cultural context and ideology,the definition of ideology,Levefere's Manipulation Theory and the Ideological Manipulation in translation in this thesis.The fourth chapter is the main body of this thesis,which is a comparative case study of the Chinese versions of The Good Earth.The author mainly explores the social cultural backgrounds under which the two Chinese versions produced as well as the differences in translating the two versions under the manipulation of ideology.The fifth chapter is a conclusion part.The author has summarized findings of the entire research,pointed out some limitations and made some suggestions for further research on the translation of The Good Earth from the perspective of Ideological Manipulation.Through reviewing relevant literature,the author has found that studies on the Chinese versions of The Good Earth from the perspective of Ideological Manipulation so far are rarely seen except in several journal articles which haven't given a detailed account.This thesis will further make a more detailed description and a more profound analysis of the Chinese versions of The Good Earth from the perspective of Ideological Manipulation on the basis of the achievements of these previous studies.