A Comparative Study On The Early Translation Of Manifesto Of The Communist Party In China And Russia

The Manifesto of the Communist Party is the most widely spread classical works of Marxism.Translation is closely related to communication.The essence of translation is intercultural communication.Chinese scholars have made great achievements in the study on the translation of the Manifesto of the Communist Party from different angles.However,there are few studies conducted on the impact of the Manifesto of the Communist Party from the perspective of comparative study in different countries,especially in two socialist countries:China and Russia.Therefore,this study is to sort out the history of the translations of the important works of Marx in China and Russia from the end of 19~thh century to the beginning of the 20~thh century,to interpret the influence of the early translations in Russia on the translations in China.Based on Lasswell's 5W model,the author carries out a comparative study on the early translations in both Chinese and Russian.The early translation of the Manifesto of the Communist Party in China can be divided into three stages:the cooperative translation between missionaries and landlords(at the end of 19~thh century);the selective translation by bourgeoisie(from the end of 19~thh century to the beginning of 20~thh century);the translation by the early Marxists(from the October Revolution to the emergence of the first Chinese complete translation).The early translation in Russia focuses on the first Russian translation.Plekhanov's version is thought to be more appropriate than that of Bakunin in terms of quality.Analysis shows:(1)Translators are divided into four classes in China,and two in Russia.The translation environment is adverse in Russia,and loose in China;(2)Different classes pay attention to different content.The translation style of Marxists is alike in two countries;(3)Magazines are the main translation channel in China and Russia.Newspapers is important in China;(4)The audience of different classes are accurate.Early Chinese and Russian Marxists both attach great importance to the communication in working classes;(5)The effect of the translation is prominent and profound.Russian translations accelerate the blossom of Chinese translation.Therefore,the translation practice at home is deeply affected by what happened in Russia.In a word,the historical significance of the Manifesto of the Communist Party in both Chinese and Russian can be deeply understood.Chinese people can understand the significance more deeply of the Manifesto of the Communist Party nowadays.