A Study On Intentional Mistranslations In Li Jihong's Chinese Version Of The Kite Runner From The Perspective Of Manipulation Theory

Traditional translation theories held the view that a translation must be faithful to its original text.Any translation that is in violation of that rule is often labeled as ?bad translation? or mistranslation.Therefore,mistranslations must be avoided as a taboo.However,the occurrence of mistranslations is inevitable owing to factors such as language,culture,ideology and the translator?s knowledge.It is certain that there is a gap between two languages as well as between the translator?s understanding of a text and his final expression of it.Owing to various factors in the translating process,some distortions occurred in the translated text,making it go against or untrue to the original in terms of meaning or tones.Apart from the mistranslations caused by the translator?s poor language skills or his carelessness or his misunderstanding of the original text,this thesis considers that intentional mistranslations brought about by factors such as language,culture and ideology are reasonable and have positive influence.In 1970 s,translation study moved from the linguistic level to cultural study.That was the so-called “cultural turn”,which attached great importance to the influence of factors beyond the text on translation.In light of this trend,this thesis tries to analyze intentional mistranslations in literary translation from the perspective of the Manipulation Theory.The Kite Runner was Afghan American writer Khaled Hosseini?s first novel which was published in 2003.Since its publication,this novel has been well received by readers across the world and has been rendered into a variety of languages.Currently in China,studies on The kite Runner are mainly focused on its literary characters,contrasts between its two Chinese versions or analysis of one of its translation version.However,the author of this thesis,during his reading of its original text against its Chinese version,found many mistranslations in the translated text,among which some were resulted in by the translator?s negligence or his misunderstanding of the original text and some came from the translator?s rewriting influenced by factors such as ideology and poetics.While the former kind of mistranslation can be avoided as much as possible through the translator?s efforts,the latter one is often the result of the translator?s intentional act induced by a variety of factors.Thus,the latter is of more research value.With the Manipulation Theory as the theoretical framework,this thesis explores the rationale behind the intentional mistranslations in Li jihong?s Chinese version of The Kite Runner with the aim of providing practicing translators with translation guidance and advice.