A Bourdieusian Sociological Approach To Bing Xin's Translation Of Indian Fairy Tales

Bing Xin was a well-noted writer and translator for children's literature,and her works Ji Xiaoduzhe(Letters to Young Readers)laid the foundation for children's literature in China.In the 1950 s,after returning to China,Bing Xin reached the peak of her translation career.Her translation of Indian children's literature work Indian Fairy Tales responded to the educational policy for children's literature at that time in China,enriched children's reading materials and was welcomed by children.However,throughout studies on the translation of children's literature in China,little research has been found on Bing Xin's Chinese translation Yindu Tonghuaji(Collection of Indian Fairy Tales).In this paper,Bing Xin's Chinese translation of Indian Fairy Tales will be researched and this may be the first attempt to the study on the translation of children's literature by Bing Xin.Since Holmes(1972:78-79),indicated that “the task of the translation scholar in this field is to render informed advice to others in defining the place and role of translators,translating,and translation in society at large: such questions,for instance,as determining the social and economic position of the translator is and should be”,scholars in the field of translation studies at home and abroad have done a lot of effective explorations.Bourdieu's Theory of Practice,Lühmann's Social Systems Theory,Latour's Actor Network Theory and Habermas' s Communicative Behavior Theory have been introduced into translation studies to explain translation behavior,forming the so-called “sociological turn” after “linguistic turn” and “cultural turn” in translation studies.Sociological studies on translation is on the ascendance nowadays,especially its powerful explanation of agency structure and intersubjectivity.in the translation process,but some more efforts still needs to be made to establish its academic status.The author of this paper attempts to study Bing Xin's translation of Indian Fairy Tales from two aspects: the selection of translation materials for Bing Xin and inner and outer factors affecting her selecting translation materials;the application of translation methodologies and the reasons for them.Firstly,the author analyzes translation-related fields in the 1950 s including cultural field,translation field and power field and their influence on Bing Xin's selection of translation materials – Indian Fairy Tales;Then the author analyzes capitals,especially cultural capital owned by Bing Xin when translating the original text;Next,the author analyzes two aspects of Bing Xin's habitus in translation,one aspect having an influence on Bing Xin's translation material selection and the other on Bing Xin's translation methodologies;In the end,the author analyzes their influence on translation material selection and translation methodologies used in the process.According to the paper,Bourdieusian sociology has a strong interpretation for Bing Xin's translation of Indian Fairy Tales,for it combines factors from the society and factors embodied on individuals,so it is more comprehensive.