林译狄更斯小说研究

Abstract

Lin's library of translated fiction in the late Qing and early Republican period is an important resource for Translation Studies. The five novels that Lin Shu and Wei Yi translated, Nickolas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist and Dombey and Son, constitute the beginning of both translation of and research into Charles Dickens, which have thereafter prospered for over a hundred years. In this study, I will not tangle with the addition or deletion of some single words or phrases that merely lead to a "judgment" of the translations. Rather, the methodology of Descriptive Translation Studies will be applied so that, based on a discussion of patterns of textual difference and translation strategies used in a consistent way, the concept of norm will help attend to the literary contradiction and reconciliation between source and target texts. I try to offer an explanation by establishing a framework that incorporates conventions of fictional writing in both English and Chinese, their cultural traditions and social environments, and also the readers' needs. Furthermore, the newly developed socio-translation studies, drawing from Pierre Bourdieu's theory of "habitus", "field" and "capital", have put the translator in the spotlight. Thus, the translator, being an active agent, can be examined with regard to his social trajectory and the capital he possesses. In the light of textual and theoretical analysis, I look into the way Lin Shu and Wei Yi read Dickens in their translations with regard to both its causes and effects, and the views held by Lin Shu towards his own translation practice. The result makes contributions to both the research of Dickens' Chinese translations and that of Lin's translated fiction.