A Study On Ken Liu's Translation Of Santi From The Perspective Of Rewriting Theory

On the afternoon of August 23rd, 2015, the winner list of the 73rd Hugo Award in the United States was announced. Liu Cixin wins the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel with his science fiction novel Santi. He is the first science fiction writer in China and Asia who has won this award. This also makes The Three-Body Problem become a milestone on the road of the overseas promotion of Chinese culture. However,it is a pity that the Chinese literary circle has long ignored science fiction creation. Similarly, there are few scholars in translation circle who have made specialized research on science fiction translation. Over a long period of time, people have held a prejudice against science fiction because of many historical factors, which hinders the development of science fiction and its translation in China. These double negative factors lead to the lack of Chinese science fiction translations, and there have been few studies on the translation of Santi. We have seen more individual scholars conducting science fiction translation in a single-handed way, such as professor Guo Jianzhong who makes contributions to the translation theory of science fiction, and Liu Yukun who makes a great deal of practice in science fiction translation. It is urgent for us to develop and revitalize the translation of Chinese science fiction.In 1970s, Andre Lefevere proposed the "rewriting theory" under the influence of"manipulation school". Traditional translation theories focused narrowly on the study of the translation activities at the linguistic level so as to obtain the best translation.Nevertheless, Andre Lefevere's rewriting theory subverted the traditional view of translation. Focusing on the translated text, it tried to explore the deep reasons of its formation by means of descriptive method under the context of culture and society. In Andre Lefebvre's point of view, translation was influenced by three elements: ideology,poetics and patronage.This thesis makes a tentative attempt to make an analysis of the translation of Santi from the perspective of rewriting theory. It consists of five chapters. The first chapter is made up of research background, the significance of the study and the structure of the thesis. The second chapter makes an introduction to previous studies on science fiction translation from Chinese into foreign languages, on the translation of Santi and on rewriting theory adopted by this thesis. The third chapter is the theoretical bases of the thesis, giving an explanation of Andre Lefevere's rewriting theory and the three constraints involved in detail and a supplementary introduction to Guo Jianzhong's science fiction translation criteria relating to poetics. Then the relevance of rewriting theory and Guo's translation criteria to the present study is justified. The fourth chapter constitutes the main body of the whole thesis. In this chapter, a comprehensive and systematic analysis of The Three-body Problem by American-born Chinese science fiction translator Ken Liu in the perspective of Andre Lefevere's rewriting theory is carried out. The present author arrives at the following findings. Firstly, while selecting what kind of literary work to translate, both China Educational Publications Import &Export Corporation, Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as CEPIEC) and Tor Books are in search of a literary work with Chinese characteristics that would be well received by foreign readers. With the backdrop of the Cultural Revolution, Santi shows the Chinese viewpoint of science and technology,the universe and the destiny of human beings as a whole, which is to the expectation of foreign readers. Secondly, CEPIEC sets up higher standard in the selection of Santi's translator than that of its peers. Ken Liu is chosen for his wonderful command of both English and Chinese skills. Thirdly, in terms of during the translation process of Santi, the translator rewrites the content involving China's politics, heroism and poetics to conform to that of western countries by means of literal and liberal translation, amplification, domestication and so on. Lastly, CEPIEC and Tor Books have promoted The Three-body Problem in different channels, such as newpapers,TV and social platforms. The fifth chapter is the conclusion of the thesis. This chapter presents a review of the study and draws a conclusion that the reason for the success of The Three-body Problem is an outcome resulting from the integral effects of the three constrains of rewriting theory. This provides valuable experience and hints for the overseas promotion of Chinese literary works and culture.