A Study On The English Translation Of Ancient Chinese Fables In Chinese Literature (1951-1966) From The Perspective Of Rewriting Theory

Ancient Chinese fable is a brilliant pearl in the treasure-house of Chinese classic literature.The ancient Chinese fables were published in Chinese Literature(1951-1966).It was the first time that Chinese ancient fables were introduced to foreign readers,which opened the window of understanding Chinese classical literature for foreign readers.However,the academic researches on the English translation of ancient fables are still rare,and most of them are focused on the micro-language level.There are few studies that combine Lefevere's rewriting theory with the translation of Chinese fables.By analyzing the three factors' manipulation of translation of the fables in “Seventeen Years”,the author systematically analyzes the influence of social and cultural factors on the translation of ancient Chinese fables,which expands and deepens the study of translation of Chinese literary works during this period.This thesis argues that the translators(Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang)were influenced by the mainstream ideology,the view of poetics,and the patrons of the era in the process of translation of fables,which embodied in the following aspects:Ideological Manipulation: In the selection of materials,selected fables were characterized by rebellious and struggling spirit.In the translation,first of all,in the early days after the founding of People's Republic of China,the foreign language translation of the country was in the active state of “I want to translate”.In the transliteration of place names,the translators held the principle of “keeping our own culture as the base” and “complying with the original forms of expression”.The use of Wade-Giles System helped to expand the influence of political ideology and safeguard the national sovereignty.Secondly,the contents that detract from the country's image have been deleted or rewritten,such as the contents of wars,feudal myths and brutalities,evading negative influences and creating a good national image.Thirdly,the philosophical thoughts of Confucianism,Taoism and Mohism contained in the pre-Qin period fables have profound meanings.The translators used vacancies and substitutions to deal with different situations in order to reflect the spirit of the originalPoetic Manipulation: The translation of the fables in the seventeen years is not only subject to the “faithful” manipulation of the translation view of “faithfulness,expressiveness,and elegance” of the source language country,but also manipulated by the “rewriting” that is expected by the target language readers.In the era of strong political atmosphere,translators used the strategies of literal translation,defamiliarization of the zodiac year,foreignization of measurement units,explicitation of locatives and numerals to faithfully convey the original and highlight of unique Chinese traditional culture.At the same time,in order to make the Western readers have a cultural resonance and make effective associations,the translators rewrote from the aspects of culture-loaded words,sentences,texts,and rhetorics.The culture-loaded words of costumes and feudal official titles were written by the domestication method to adjust to the western society;the sentences were rewritten by retelling,amplification,generalization and free translation;the texts were rewritten by the omission of complicated historical backgrounds,the use of abridged editions and the omission of the mark of special literary form;the rhetorical devices such as antithesis,parallelism,anadiplosis,erotesis,and morphologic rhetoric were rewritten to a certain extent,by which the original flavor were preserved as much as possible,and would be easily accepted by the readers.Patronage Manipulation: Chinese Literature is under the patronage of the state agencies.The patrons restricted the Chinese editors through editorial guidelines and restricted the translators through translation guidelines.The translation activities must reflect the will of the patronage.Therefore,this thesis argues that the translation of ancient Chinese fables during seventeen years was the product of both the requirement of the source society and the expectation of the target society.The translators objectively presented the original works in a cautious manner while paying attention to preserve the artistic beauty of the original,which showed high artistic standards.