Is Constructed Of Western Heroine

The translation activities in the late Qing China didn't arouse any concern from the academic circle until the last 10 years. Before that time, the discussions on the translation during the period generally involved only translation theories put forward by Yan Fu, Ma Jianzhong and etc., while other undertakings in this field were totally ignored or under-evaluated simply by the standard of faithfulness. This situation, however, has been improved since the 1990s. On the one hand, questioning of the modernity of "May 4^th Movement" has led to a new understanding of the literature and culture during the late Qing China. On the other, the paradigm in translation studies has undergone a radical shift. Consequently, the former has provided external conditions and the latter a new perspective for the study on translation in that period. In other words, translation is studied for its social and cultural roles at that time from a cultural perspective instead of by the standard of "faithfulness".Guided by this line of thought, the dissertation is to make a study on the translation of "Western Heroines" by the intellectuals in the late Qing China. Issues discussed are: 1) What is the historical context for the translating? 2) Why is it done? 3) What kind of heroines are selected for translation and what principles are followed to make such choices? 4) How are the heroines translated? 5) How is the translated version of heroines related to the original? and 6) Is what represented in the translated text in agreement with the translator's motive? These issues, with the study of the historical period of the late Qing China coming to the fore nowadays, play a significant role by providing an angle for research on the intellectuals' acceptance of the west leaning in that period. What's more, a review of this period in the history of translation can be of great significance to women's studies, which, for its limited perspective, has been taking translated texts as created ones. However, all this has not been given its due concern so far.Therefore, the dissertation is to explore how the "Western Heroines" were introduced into China in the period in issue and what roles they played, by focusing on the specific translations of the biographies of the "Western Heroines", especially on the translations of the then influential Ten World Heroines. It draws on the theories of the contemporary cultural school of translation studies and adopts an approach combining holistic description and case study. And with a comparison between the original and the translated as well as between the cultural context of the target language and that of the source language, attempts are made to reveal how the Western Heroines' images were established in the translation and how the translators responded to the "Western Heroines"and west learning.In fact, the translation of Western Heroines' biographies in the late Qing China was to serve the cause of national salvation. On this premise the translation, from the very beginning, was a political act rather than a cultural exchange. Concerned about the situation in the late Qing China, the translator of "Tem World Heroines" built the ideal images of the "Western Heroines" by making choices and reorganizing them. Paradoxically, however, those translated heroines who were supposed to meet the needs of the intellectuals were full of contradictions, which in turn reflected the status quo of the intellectuals accepting the "Western Heroines" and west learning in their time.