A Comparative Study Of The Two English Versions Of Chen Zhong De Chi Bang

With the initiation of C hinese culture “going out”,there has been a growing concern in the academic circle over the translation and dissemination of Chinese literature,especially modern and contemporary literature.Meanwhile,C hinese literature is still at a peripheral position on the world literature stage.An investigation into a successful dissemination case will offer us an insight as to how to promote the “going out” and a chance to draw from the experience and reflect on the deficiencies.Zhang Jie's Chen Zhong De Chi Bang is regarded as C hina's first full-length reform novel.It was awarded the second Mao Dun Literary Prize in 1985 and translated into 12 languages.Besides,within only two years,there appeared two English versions,which is rarely seen in contemporary literary circle and certainly worth our attention.However,the current research on the English versions of Chen Zhong De Chi Bang is far from satisfactory,both qualitatively and quantitatively.And a comparative study between the two versions is barely touched upon.In the light of the above problems,this thesis aims to conduct a comparative research on the two versions from the perspective of culture dissemination and with reference to Medio-Translatology and other cultural studies theories.It mainly probes into translators' choices of the source text,their choices of translation strategies and factors that influence such choices,as well as the reception and review of the two versions in target culture.Based on the analyses,it will reflect on the gains and losses during the process of the translation and dissemination and further propose tentative suggestions for the “going out” of contemporary Chinese literature.The major findings have been reached as follows.Firstly,Gladys' translation of Chen Zhong De Chi Bang was more out of her initiative choice while Goldblatt's retranslation was initiated by the publisher out of political reason and based on the consideration of providing a more complete version.Secondly,the differences of translation strategies in the two versions are mainly reflected at three levels,namely topic level,narrative level and linguistic level.Gladys adopts the methods of manipulating paratexts,deletion,abridging,rewriting and free translation,thus making Leaden Wings an obvious rewriting of the original.By contrast,Goldblatt's version is basically faithful to the original.He mainly adopts the method of literal translation while making efforts to reproduce the artistic features and cultural elements in the original,using fresh and idiomatic language,and thus his version enjoys a higher readability.Thirdly,the translators' choices of different translation strategies are mainly influenced by five factors: their translation styles,mainstream ideology,poetics,patronage and the tension between previous version and retranslation.Fourthly,with regard to the reception,through a comparison in library collection,reviews by both professionals and common readers,it is found that the two versions have established their influence in overseas markets and that Heavy Wings is better received than Leaden Wings.In the meantime,there is also unsatisfactory aspect,suggested mainly by the criticism on the artistry of the novel itself.Based on the findings,this thesis proposes tentative suggestions from the perspectives of the choice of source text,choice of translation strategies,dissemination channels and the value of retranslation.Furthermore,it also points out the limitations of the study in terms of research content and research methodology.