A Comparative Study Of The Three Chinese Translations Of The Good Earth From The Perspective Of Narrative Theory

The Good Earth,written by Nobel Laureate Pearl S.Buck,narrates the story of Wang Lung,a Chinese farmer,who rises from a poor peasant to a landlord.It was one of the most translated American novels in China in the twentieth century.There have been at least five Chinese versions available within five years of its publication in the United States.The thesis chooses the three Chinese versions of the 1930s of The Good Earth-You Zhiwu’s version,Hu Zhongchi’s version,Zhang Wanli and Zhang Tiesheng’s version,and attempts to make a comparative study of them from the perspective of narrative theory.Mona Baker initiates the application of narrative theory in translation studies.In her view,translation can be considered as a form of re-narration that participates in constructing social reality rather than merely a process of transferring semantic content from one language to another.The study,drawing on Baker’s narrative approach to translation,investigates how the translators of The Good Earth—You Zhiwu.Hu Zhongchi,Zhang Wangli and his co-translator Zhang Tiesheng—assess the narratives elaborated in the source text,and explores what strategies they adopt in their translations to strengthen,undermine or modify aspects of the narratives and thus to signal their empathy with or detach themselves from the narrative position of the original author.The thesis concludes as follows:(I)The translators make different assessments of the narrative of The Good Earth,With a political leaning towards the Left,You Zhiwu expresses quite strong disapproval of the source narrative.Contrary to him,Zhang Wanli and his co-translator Zhang Tiesheng,who have a deep awareness of the acute national crisis,show enthusiastic approval of the source narrative.As to Hu Zhongchi,on the one hand,he applauds The Good Earth for spotlighting Chinese farmers;on the other hand,he conveys slight doubt about some exaggerated and unnatural depictions in it.(2)All the translators,through the manipulation of the prefaces to their translations,reposition the target readers in relation to the original author and to the events depicted in the source narrative.You Zhiwu creates distance between the readers and the source narrative.whereas Zhang Wanli and Zhang Tiesheng develop closeness between them.Hu Zhongchi is somewhere in between.He guides the readers to establish empathy for the original author,while at the same time warns them agalinst the unreasonable portrayals in the source text.(3)Besides repositioning,selective appropriation of textual material is another framing strategy adopted by the translators.Comparativcly speaking.You Zhiwu uses this strategy most frequcntly.He omils a relalively large number of the narratives that depict China and Chinese people in a negative light.Hu Zhongchi also removes the depictions that he considers exagg(erated or unnatural and thus to some degree undermines the unfavorable narratives of Chinese life.As opposed to them.Zhang Wanli and Zhang Tiesheng to a large extent reproduce all the aspects ofthe narratives encoded in the source text.