Translation Of An Excerpt(Chapter 10) Of Perfect Worlds:Utopian Fiction Of China And The West And A Critical Commentary

This translation project consists of two parts: the translation of an Excerpt(Chapter 10)of Perfect Worlds: Utopian Fiction of China and the West by Douwe Fokkema and a critical commentary on the meaning,value of the project as well as the translation strategies,methods and techniques used in this project.Douwe Fokkema was a famous Dutch sinologist,literary theorist and accomplished scholar of comparative literature.He was interested in Chinese literatures,modern Chinese language and contemporary Chinese literature.He elaborately illustrated the different developments of utopianism and its influence on Western countries and China..The selected chapter mainly introduces that in the course of the nineteenth century,many utopian fictions were published,not only on the European continent but also in the United Kingdom and North America.Utopianism became a serious thing and turned from a romanticist ideal into a significant factor in the struggle for equality and democracy.In the second part,the author of the translation project first gives a brief introduction to the source text and the significance of the source text.And then the translator illustrates the theoretical guidance and strategies employed in the translation project.The translation project adopts John Cunnison Catford's Translation Shifts theory as the guidance with a view to obtaining a meaning shift between the source text and the target text.The translator mainly employs level shifts,category shifts(structure-shifts,class-shifts,and unit-shifts)to comprehend and obtain a better understanding of the source text.The translator discovers that in practice,these shifts often happen alongside one another.The translation project also has some certain significances and referential values.Firstly,this book provides an important comparative study of utopian fictions in China and the West.It is an important theoretical book for scholars of comparative literature.Secondly,the experience the translator shares with the readers of this paper might help fellow translators understand their projects better and effectively.