Translation ideologies of American literature in China

Abstract

Chinese translations of U.S. literature manifest a shift from the third-world internationalism and anti-Western and anti-capitalist politics of the 1950s toward a diminished rhetorical antagonism in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Because translation introductions are instrumental in introducing Chinese readers to the social context of U.S. literature, we surveyed a broad sample of prefaces. Based on this survey, we theorize China-U.S. translation relations within a world system; examine the ideological character of post-Revolution translation introductions to American literature; and identify shifting ideological tides following the Cultural Revolution.

Translating Mark Twain: The construction of America in 1950s China

“…Lai‐Henderson’s observation of accuracy is well supported by textual evidence, which however was not thoroughly elucidated regarding how such accuracy was ensured and what this accuracy meant in the context of the 1950s. A similar problem also exists in Lockard and Dan’s study (2016). They generalize the translation ideologies of American literature in 1950s China by analyzing the paratexts attached to the translations of Mark Twain’s works.…”

“…Here the role of these paratextual elements is essential, as they offer a channel to guide the reading and to inform readers of the intended political message, and therefore they themselves have constituted a testimonial to the process of manipulation. Lockard and Dan (2016) have affirmed some patterns in these paratexts. They observe that the Chinese translators, playing a role of “explicators of American literature” rather than “pundits addressing their own society,” attempted to “validate prevailing Chinese political discourse by applying them to the United States” (Lockard & Dan, 2016, 271).…”

“…Lockard and Dan (2016) have affirmed some patterns in these paratexts. They observe that the Chinese translators, playing a role of “explicators of American literature” rather than “pundits addressing their own society,” attempted to “validate prevailing Chinese political discourse by applying them to the United States” (Lockard & Dan, 2016, 271). Therefore, in this sense, the images of America that surfaced in these introductory paratexts were projections of the auto‐image of a socialist China.…”

“…Therefore, translating Mark Twain may be regarded as representative of how socialist China reacted to American literature, which thus warrants further investigation. Recent studies (e.g., Lai‐Henderson, 2015; Li, 2008; Lockard & Dan, 2016; Yang & Yu, 2011) have acknowledged and investigated the political manipulation in translating Mark Twain in the given period. However, their research, placing overwhelming emphasis at the textual level, failed to position the translations in a broader picture and thus cannot reveal the underlying mechanism of how these translational textual embodiments were actualized.…”