Translation And Reception Of Contemporary Chinese Literary Works From The Perspective Of Bourdieu's Sociological Theory

Literary works contain the cultural deposits of a nation and play a decisive role in cultural construction.Since our country has proposed to deepen the reform of cultural system and implement the Chinese culture “going out” strategy,more and more excellent works have been translated and introduced to the world.But the overall reception abroad is not optimistic.In view of this,this thesis aims to provide effective and feasible suggestions for the “going out” of contemporary Chinese literature by exploring the translation and reception of contemporary literary works and analyzing internal and external factors of the text.In 2012,Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize for Literature by virtue of his power of writing as well as the joint efforts of translators.His works have been highly recognized and successfully accepted by overseas readers,among which the English version of Sheng Si Pi Lao translated by Goldblatt has been awarded the first prize at the second Dream of the Red Chamber Awards and the first Newman Prize for Chinese Literature.As a contemporary Chinese literary work which has successfully entered into overseas markets,there is certain significance for the “going out” of contemporary literature to study on Sheng Si Pi Lao and its English version(Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out).Bourdieu's sociological theory puts translation studies into social contexts and could incorporate various factors and subjects involved in the translation and reception of literary works as far as possible.Based on Bourdieu's concepts of field,habitus and capital,the author first resorts to American literary field so as to shed light on the reasons for the reception of Sheng Si Pi Lao in America around 2000 s.Then staring from the translator's habitus,this paper explores factors that affect the selection of original text and probes into translation methods and skills adopted by Goldblatt.Finally,the thesis analyzes the embodiment of various capitals of Mo Yan,Goldblatt and Sheng Si Pi Lao,and sheds light on the reason that affects the reception of the English version of Sheng Si Pi Lao according to book reviews from US-basedAmazon and sales volume from Nielsen BookScan.Major findings of the study are as follows: First of all,the American literary field around 2000 s tends to accept contemporary Chinese literary works since the founding of the People's Republic of China.Literary works with characteristics of post-modernism in style and more sexual and political descriptions in content are in line with the aesthetic expectations of American readers.Secondly,under the influence of translator's habitus,Goldblatt's selection of the original text is related to his personal interest,reader awareness,and translatability of texts.Besides,Goldblatt mainly adopts the translation methods of transliteration,literal translation and free translation,skills of amplification and omission as well as other compensation means so as to reproduce the original form as much as possible and meet the needs of target readers.Thirdly,the reception of Sheng Si Pi Lao and its English version is influenced by cultural capital,social capital,symbolic capital and economic capital.Furthermore,the reception of the English version of Sheng Si Pi Lao is mainly influenced by symbolic capital.With the help of Bourdieu's sociological theory,this study attempts to broaden research perspective of his theory and provide certain reference and enlightenment for the translation and reception of contemporary Chinese literary works by analyzing Sheng Si Pi Lao and its English version.