A Study Of Yu Hua's Works In The English-speaking World

Human beings are "cultural animals" on the earth,they live in the "material world" on the one hand and also in the "spiritual world" on the other.As an important part of the human spiritual world,the production,processing,communication,acceptance and evaluation of literary products constitute the main content of the contemporary world literary life.The emergence,growth and prosperity of Chinese modern and contemporary literature are inseparable from the nourishment of the source of ancient Chinese literature as well as the guidance of and communication with foreign culture and literature.Objectively speaking,the exchange between overseas and Chinese literature has not been equal for a long time.There is more foreign literature introduced into China but less Chinese literature introduced abroad.In the process of the interaction between Chinese literature and foreign literature,Chinese literature is in a weak position relatively.In recent years,with the improvement of Chinese economic strength and the implementation of the strategy of cultural power,the "Chinese culture going global" has been increasing in intensity,which has boosted the cross-cultural communication and dialogue of contemporary Chinese literature abroad.More and more outstanding Chinese writers' works have been translated and disseminated abroad,and have been valued and welcomed by overseas publishing institutions,media,readers and researchers.At present,there are not only a number of readers and sinologists who are interested in Chinese literature and culture,but also pure academic journals devote to the study of modern and contemporary Chinese literature and culture.For example,Modern Chinese Literature and Culture,published by Ohio State University as early as last century,is a very influential journal of Chinese studies.At the beginning of the 21st century,the publication of Brothers by Yu Hua aroused great controversy in China.After that,there was a debate about the value of Chinese contemporary literature and modern literature,which became a hot topic in and out of the literary circle.The debate and hype of the media have already exerted a great influence on the creative mentality of contemporary writers and the cultural-ecological construction of the whole society.Since the beginning of the new century,there are always some praise and criticism on the overall evaluation of contemporary literature or the personal achievements for contemporary writers,even the evaluation presented a polarized trend.In fact,the assessment of Chinese contemporary literature can stand neither on the perspective of China alone,nor on that of the United States,Britain,South Korea,Japan or any other particular foreign country,but on the perspective of the development of world cultural exchanges,world literature,and the effect of cross-cultural dissemination and acceptance.As a case of "intercultural dialogue and imagination",the research of the overseas dissemination and acceptance of Yu Hua's works is a very meaningful subject.Among contemporary Chinese writers,Yu Hua is not a prolific writer.Although his works are not many,almost all of them have "gone abroad".What's more,the evaluations of these works at home and abroad show a culture phenomenon of "receiving more recognition from outsiders".The reasons for the different reception of Chinese and foreign versions of Yu Hua' works at home and abroad are worthy of attention and reflection by the contemporary literature and cultural researchers.This paper consists of an introduction,a body,a conclusion and an appendix.The introduction part explains research significance of the dissertation and discusses the reasons why Yu Hua's works have aroused controversy among different readers and researchers.On the basis of downloading and collecting relevant materials from the library of Duke University and domestic collection databases,the author classified and sorted out the materials in Chinese and foreign languages about the dissemination and acceptance of Yu Hua's works in the English world.At the same time,according to the statistical table of author copyright output provided by Yu Hua himself,the author have sorted out the detailed information of the translation and publication of Yu Hua's works in 38 foreign languages.These are the basis and starting point of this dissertation.The body consists of five chapters.Chapter One examines the spread of Yu Hua's works in foreign countries,and sorts out the translation,sales and reader evaluation of Yu Hua's works in foreign countries,especially in the English world.Then,this dissertation systematically summarizes the experience of Yu Hua's "China Story" spread abroad from the translation,publication,adaptation and performance of Yu Hua's works.Chapter Two is about the study of Yu Hua's works in the English world.It mainly focuses on foreign scholars' researches on the alienation of human nature,violence and death in Yu Hua's works,as well as on the masculinity of the victims of historical trauma,the female identity as a commodity and a victim of violence,and the images of lonely people abandoned by warmth and so on.Chapter Three is about the study on forms of Yu Hua's works in the English world.Firstly,the author discusses Yu Hua's subversion and innovation of Chinese traditional literary language,and his irony and parody of polyphonic discourse.And then,the author explores the interpretation of symbolism in Yu Hua's works,such as the cry,the night and the different deaths of the good and the evil.Finally,the author analyzes Yu Hua's techniques of multi-layer narration and the space-time compression and so on.Chapter Four is about the comparative studies between Yu Hua and other Chinese pioneering writers,such as Can Xue,Su Tong,Ge Fei and Mo Yan from the perspective of indifferent and absurd nihilism,contemporary growth novels of the depraved youth,the transcendence and rejection of historical truth and the sticking to serious literature,The author did not find comparative studies between Yu Hua and foreign writers,so this chapter focuses on a comparative research between Yu Hua and Chinese writers.Chapter Five starts with "Two Yu Huas" and "Two versions of Yu Hua's works",then discusses Yu Hua as "a great writer" and "a popular writer" in the eyes of recipients and different aspects of "Yu Hua as a novelist" and "Yu Hua as an essayist",as well as the relationship between "Chinese version of Yu Hua's works" and "foreign versions of Yu Hua's works".By comparing the different acceptance situations of two versions of Yu Hua's works at home and abroad,the dissertation explores the relations between two versions of Chinese literature.This becomes the foundation of the dissertation and the starting point of further research.Other writers and works telling Chinese stories like Yu Hua are different from those of"historical China" and "geographical China".The authors are not only Chinese,but also foreigners.The types of text languages include not only Chinese,but also foreign languages.Its text forms include both the original "first text" by Chinese writers,and the "second text"translated and reproduced into a foreign version in foreign languages.These two texts constitute the "two versions of Chinese literature".The history composed of two texts is a complete history of Chinese literature development.However,most of the modern and contemporary Chinese literary history can only be regarded as a "one-dimensional" "first text"literary history,and many of the "second texts" of the modern and contemporary Chinese literature which spreads abroad have been "buried alive" by history for a long time.In Conclusion,the author argues that as a Chinese writer,Yu Hua has become a world writer from the fact that Yu Hua has received some awards abroad and become the main research object of international literature forum.The appendix lists the major memorabilia of Yu Hua's literary activities abroad,the publication chronology of his works in foreign languages and some covers of his works in foreign languages.These perceptual words and pictures are the real evidence supporting the dissertation.At present,there are still many difficulties in Chinese literature going abroad,which are caused by both external and internal problems in literature.The external problems involve many external elements of literature,such as promotion,translation,publication,market,politics and culture,which are like pairs of tangible and intangible hands affecting the extent to which the works of a writer cross over space and time.However,in light of Yu Hua's works introduced abroad,the internal literary elements are more important for "going abroad"for truly outstanding writers and their excellent works.Unlike some contemporary Chinese writers,whose influence abroad is based on a single book and is only short-lived,the acceptance and research of Yu Hua by overseas readers and sinologists are based on their fascination with the "profound thoughts" of Yu Hua's works.With the conscience of a writer,Yu Hua not only narrates the "richness and broadness of tears" of the masses in a lower class and"the pain of a country",but also expresses respect for life and sympathy for the weak with the modern narrative methods familiar to many western people.Yu Hua's works are not only a window for the overseas readers to understand China through literary works,but also have a high aesthetic value.Although Yu Hua's works translated overseas have been re-created through the translation process,the cultural landscape inside the literature,such as the theme,characters,plot and language,is very charming and has been widely and lastly welcomed by readers both at home and abroad.Some of his works are not only the classic texts of Chinese literature,but also the classic texts of world literature.The innovation of this dissertation:The dissertation analyzes the backgrounds of the translation,publication and dissemination of Yu Hua's works abroad,sorts out and discusses the dissemination and acceptance of Yu Hua's works in the English world from the aspects of contents and forms,as well as the comparison between Yu Hua and other Chinese writers.What's more,the dissertation puts forward and explains the concept of "two identities of Yu Hua","two versions of Yu Hua's works" and "two versions of Chinese literature" for the first time.The dissertation provides a lot of foreign language materials on the evaluation and research of Yu Hua's works.The significance of this dissertation:The dissertation reexamines the value of Yu Hua's controversial works and his position in the history of Chinese literature and world literature from the perspective of dissemination and acceptance.On this basis,the author hopes to obtain experience from the two cases of different acceptance of Yu Hua's works at home and abroad,so as to provide some useful experience for the current Chinese literature's foreign dissemination.The limitations of the dissertation:First,the author cannot collect all materials for the evaluation and research of Yu Hua's works in the English-speaking world due to the limitation of time,energy and ability;Second,the paper focuses on the carding of literature materials,and is relatively weak in the aspects of theoretical generalization and promotion.For example,the author just preliminarily discusses the relationship and interaction between"two versions of Chinese literature" triggered by "two versions of Yu Hua's works".Since these are not the main issues of this dissertation,the author only puts forward his own ideas,but further researches are to be conducted on them in the future.