Interpretation And Reception Of Chinese Literature By The British And American Mainstream Media

Since the 1980 s,China's efforts to translate and promote Chinese literature overseas have grown systematically.But in general,the dissemination and reception of the translated literary works abroad has always been a tale of faltering ambitions and unrequited hopes.So far,Chinese literature has been far from popular and remains in marginal existence in the British and American readership market.While this situation could be attributed to the literary values and translation quality of the works per se,such factors as ideology,reading habits and literary patronage behind the works should also take some responsibility.In light of this,the prestigious newspapers such as The New York Times are worth our study because they,as significant channels for introducing and disseminating contemporary Chinese literature,are immersed in Western ideology and cultural values,affect and are affected by the expectations of the target readership,and influence the selecting and editing of translated works by publishers.Therefore,this thesis chooses four mainstream American and British newspapers as the research target and aims to study their reviews and discussions about Chinese literary works and writers.The opening chapter is the literature review that summarizes the previous studies on the reception of contemporary Chinese literature abroad.Chapter 2 discusses the literary and cultural impact of the four major newspapers including The New York Times,The Washington Post,The Guardian and The Times while attempting to explain why they are selected as the research objects.Furthermore,to have a graphic idea of the media preferences and interests towards Chinese literature,a detailed compare-and-contrast analysis is conducted from the historical and logical perspective of the relevant discussions and critiques.Chapter 3 takes the vantage point of writers and editing staff and analyzes the reception of Chinese literature in British and American literary field.On the one hand,from the comments about writers and works,an understanding would be achieved of what is currently known to the British and American readership about Chinese literature;on the other,a detailed analysis is carried out on the political interests,aesthetic attitudes and literary concerns characteristic of the mainstream media and the reading public in Britain and America.According to the findings from the first three chapters,Chapter 4 focuses on the factors that contribute to or hinder the reception of Chinese literature overseas and tries to explore the strategies to increase the status of Chinese literature and thus provide feasible recommendations for future efforts to translate and introduce Chinese literature abroad.