A Study On The English Translations Of Contemporary Chinese Novels During China’s Reform And Opening Up To The Outside World(1978-2018)-a Paratextual Investifation

The translation and spreading of contemporary Chinese literary classics is an important theoretical and practical domain of translation studies in China today.A panoramic examination of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels contributes a lot to fully investigating the spreading and reception of contemporary Chinese novels in foreign territories.The existing research mainly focuses on the translated text itself,exploring related translation strategies,translation methods and the spreading of Chinese culture into the western world.When it comes to the "paratext" of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels,research is most frequently carried out on some individual case studies.A holistic investigation into the paratexts of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels over certain period of time has yet to appear.Literary translation activities in the globalization age are no longer simple processes of linguistic transfer on the pure language level,nor are they merely communications and interactions among writers,translators and readers at large.Whenever a translated literary work is to be presented to the target language(English)readers in the format of a book,it involves not only the above listed three subjects and their interactions,but also the "manipulation" and "rewriting" of various levels on the part of those complicated social organizations and subjects.Besides,other "invisible patrons"-the mainstream poetics and ideology in the target language system also affect the construction of the morphology of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels.After paratext theory was originally proposed in 1987,the research on paratext began to gradually attract the attention of scholars specializing in translation studies and related researchers in the English-speaking world.Paratext theory promises a fabulous perspective for scholars engaging in translations studies to explore the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels.The construction of the morphology of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels is a complicated poly-system.The examination the paratextual elements of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels can reveal the intricate social relations and literary ecological system beyond the generation of the text of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels.It also serves as a basis for us to correctly understand and investigate the possible acceptance of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels in the foreign cultural space.During the 40-year(1978-2018)period of China’s reform and opening up to the outside world,altogether 255 contemporary Chinese novels(mainly mainland Chinese writers’ contemporary novels with both single work and collections involved)had been translated into English and began to spread and circulate in the foreign cultural space of the English world.After these Chinese novels were translated into English,a total of 371 different English versions appeared.Both in terms of macroscopic constituent elements and micro-specific content,the peritexts of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels are engraved with the imprint of time,highlight specific laws,outline the translation strategies,publishing channels and spreading modes of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels in their own unique ways and affect the spreading and reception of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels in the English-speaking world.Based on paratext theory,this research starts from such descriptive paradigms as communication,narratology,and sociology and examines in detail the English translations of the many contemporary Chinese novels that have spread and circulated in the English world during the 40-year period of China’s reform and opening up to the outside world.The peritexts appeared in those translations are objectively described,explained and analyzed.A macroexamination of the laws and characteristics of the peritexts of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels in three different historical stages reveals that the pedigree of the peritexts has shown continuous development and dynamic deduction during the three historical phases of China’s reform and opening up to the outside world.Not only the diversification of presentation forms of peritext elements is becoming more and more obvious,but the proportion of specific peritext elements also shows different trajectories.When Chinese publishing houses and overseas publishing houses independently publish the English translations of Chinese contemporary novels,there are not only diachronic differences in the selection and adoption of peritext elements,but when it comes to the same historical phase,different selection and adoption of peritext elements by Chinese and overseas publishing houses respectively also highlights the manipulation and rewriting of the English versions of contemporary Chinese novels by patrons of different levels.A micro-specific fathoming into the peritexts of the English translations of Yan Mo,Anyi Wang,and Cixin Liu’s novels during the 40-year period of China’s reform and opening up to the outside world reveals that the peritext elements have a variety of interpretation methods and writing paths about the morphology and spreading of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels in a foreign cultural space.There is not only the multi-dimensional construction of the morphology of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels via peritexts initiated on the part of the publisher,but also the translator’s manipulation of texts by virtue of peritext elements.The peritext elements also generate the "literary field" and enhance the literary value of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels.They also help to realize the cultural adjustment function of the translator to the reader.In addition,the halo effect of the peritext elements in the novel also accelerates the spreading of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels and jointly influences the morphology of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels as well.In summary,the empirical research and investigation of the peritext elements of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels will prompt us to obtain a bird’s-eye view of the whole picture of the peritexts of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels during the 40-year period of China’s reform and opening up to the outside world and gain insights into the multifaceted functions and significance that major elements of peritexts can play,such as promoting the canonization of the English translations of contemporary Chinese novels in the target culture,interpreting the meaning generation of the original text,restoring the historical background of the original creation,and fostering imagination of the time and space of the creation of the original novel.The study undertaken now will also promise constructive advice and offer a foresight for“China’s Academic Work Translation Project" in the new century and the implementation of the national strategy of "Chinese Culture Going Global".