A Study On Cyril Birch's English Translation Of Mudanting From The Perspective Of Ideology

The Ming drama Mudanting(The Peony Pavilion)is a representative work of Tang Xianzu,and it occupies a vital position in the history of Chinese literature.It was translated into a variety of languages in the 20 th century,and there are 14 translations until now.Among the four full translations,Cyril Birch's translation is the most popular one in the West.This thesis takes Birch's translation as the research object,employs Yang Liu's theory of ideology and adopts the methods of historical material arrangement,specific case analysis and comparative analysis to examine the ideological factors behind Birch's translation of Mudanting,namely,source-text choice,dramatic form and content in the translation,acceptance and popularity of Birch's The Peony Pavilion.It is found that the choice of Mudanting as source-text was influenced by the national ideology of the US after World War II and the translator's individual ideology.In terms of the US national ideology after the Second World War,there was a shortage of high-level Chinese translation talents in the United States.Nixon's visit to China in 1972 greatly enhanced Sino-US relations so that study of China's history and current situation became the US government's attention focus in the 1970 s.As a result,a trend of research and translation of Chinese drama classics appeared in the study field of classical Chinese literature in America,and Chinese language education has also developed rapidly in American universities and middle schools.In terms of the translator's individual ideology,as a famous Sinologist and translator,Birch loves Chinese and Chinese classical drama and regards Mudanting as “the greatest drama” written by Tang Xianzu,and he is competent in Chinese and Chinese culture.Besides,Birch believes that the theme of Mudanting is common and universal in English culture.Second,the dramatic form and specific translation strategies and methods adopted by Birch in his translation are the results of US national ideology,literary ideology,aesthetic ideology and Birch's individual ideology.Birch's full translation of Mudanting is inseparable from the strong support of the Mellon Fund under the National Cultural Strategy;meanwhile,Chinese culture and drama gradually entered the horizons of Western audiences,so they gradually eliminated prejudice againstChinese literature and drama,and Birch praises Chinese drama even more.Constrained by the rich linguistic forms and cultural connotation of Mudanting,Birch has created a translator-centered strategy so as to achieve compromise,heterogeneity and balance between the source and target language system.Under the premise of not affecting reader's understanding,cultural images are translated by means of literal translation and free translation.Third,the good acceptance and popularity are inseparable from the US literary ideology because many readers highly praised Mudanting.Therefore,this thesis holds that Birch's translation of Mudanting is constricted by the ideological factors of a specific period and specific environment.