On Lefevere’s Manipulation Theory On The English Translation Of Martial Arts Fiction And Its Acceptability In The West

Unlike other literary forms of the rest of the world,martial arts fiction is a unique genre in Chinese literature.Martial arts fiction demonstrates its readers Wuxia vocabulary with unique flavor of Chinese characteristics and conveys the errantry spirits which renders the difficulty in its English translation.Lu Ding Ji(in Chinese pinyin),the last novel by Louis Cha,presents us readers Wei Xiaobao,a protagonist quite different from other characters in the rest of Louis Cha’s works.The three English versions of Lu Ding Ji were translated by Professor John Minford,a renowned sinologist,into the title The Deer and the Cauldron,and were published by Oxford University Press in year 1997,1999 and 2002 respectively.From the perspective of Lefevere’s Manipulation Theory and on an in-depth analysis of Professor Minford’s English version The Deer and the Cauldron,this paper is in an attempt to find out the considerable rewritings employed by Minford influenced by ideology and poetics.By analysis,numerous translation strategies and techniques were found in the version,mainly in the following aspects:rewriting of the novel structure,translations of the novel and chapter titles,proper names,and Wei Xiaobao’s vulgar speech,etc.Meanwhile,there exists some misinterpretations due to Minford’s misunderstanding of cultural differences.Based on the above analyses,the paper probes into such questions as whether the translated texts would sincerely convey the errantry spirit and traditional Chinese cultural factors and would be accepted by western readers,and would live up to their expectations of Chinese martial arts fiction as well.With the dissemination of more and more translated texts of Chinese martial arts fiction among western readers,we hope a case study of Professor Minford’s translation work can provide translation practitioners a good reference and insight into the practical work of martial arts fiction.What’s more,we hope it can help them to get free from the framework of ideology when translating the unique literary genre,and employ more appropriate translating strategies to introduce more martial arts fiction to the readers of target language.