The Translation And Reception Of George Bernard Shaw’s Plays In China(1919-1949)

Bernard Shaw,whose full name was George Bernard Shaw(1856-1950),was one of the great English dramatists of the late 19 th and early 20 th Critical realism.Since the May 4th movement,George Bernard Shaw’s plays have attracted the attention of many new intellectuals in China,and many of them have been translated into Chinese.Between 1919 and 1949,15 of George Bernard Shaw’s plays were translated into Chinese.Throughout the spread of George Bernard Shaw’s plays in China,translation has played an irreplaceable role.However,there is no systematic study on the translation and introduction of George Bernard Shaw’s plays in China.Therefore,this thesis will take the Chinese version of George Bernard Shaw’s drama(1919-1949)as the research object,combine the relevant knowledge of translatology,and apply Lefevere’s theory of “Patronage system”,this paper attempts to examine the translation and reception of George Bernard Shaw’s plays in China from the perspective of the context of the times and the internal level of the texts.The full text is divided into four parts.The first part: review the process of George Bernard Shaw’s drama translation and introduce his translation group.The translation and reception of George Bernard Shaw’s plays in China(1919-1949)experienced a period from germination to prosperity.In the light of the publication of the Chinese versions of Xiao’s plays,there is an obvious tendency of politicization in the acceptance of Xiao’s plays in China.In addition,compared with the number of Chinese versions of George Bernard Shaw’s plays,there are far more translators than translators,and most of the translators are new,western educated intellectuals.The second part: starting from the macro social and cultural history,discusses the influence of the context of the times on the translation of George Bernard Shaw’s plays and the characteristics of the domestic reception of his plays.Different contexts of the times not only limited the domestic choice of George Bernard Shaw’s plays,but also affected the acceptance of his plays.The academic acceptance of George Bernard Shaw’s drama experienced a change from “For life”to “For art”.The third part: from the micro-literary point of view,discusses the translator’s translation characteristics.On the one hand,it is clear from the traditional Chinese culture and the language style of George Bernard Shaw’s drama translation that mainstream ideology and poetics limit the choice of translation strategies,from the abridgement,mistranslation and compilation of George Bernard Shaw’s drama translation,we can see that the translator also plays an active role in the process of translation,rewriting and interfering with the text to different degrees.The fourth part: mainly studies the influence of George Bernard Shaw’s drama translation in China.An analysis of the influence of George Bernard Shaw’s drama translation in China from the perspective of readers and audience.In literary creation,Mao Dun,Chen Shouzhu,Ding Xilin,Wang Youyou and other writers have been affected by it.As far as theatrical performance is concerned,although George Bernard Shaw’s plays failed miserably when first performed in China,the experience has profound implications for the transformation and development of modern drama.Therefore,the context of the times influences the domestic translation,selection and acceptance of George Bernard Shaw’s plays from the outside,while the translator’s translation strategy determines the reader’s acceptance from the inside.