| Since the 1970s translation theorists have begun to probe into translation phenomenon beyond the text with a look at macro factors such as social, historical and cultural context. Postcolonial studies focus on the cultural exchange between the dominant and the dominated, that is, between the colonizer and the colonized, the Occident and the Orient, and the First World countries and the Third World countries. Postcolonial translation theorists often approach cultural communication from the point of"weak"countries and"weak"cultures. In early 20th century, China held a subordinate position in the exchange with the west, its cultural input and output was extremely unbalanced. Lu Xun's translating efforts reveals his attitude towards this cultural unbalance. From a postcolonial perspective, the thesis aims to explore how Lu Xun responded to the cultural hegemony in his endeavor by means of translation, and how he tried to break up the binary oppositional pattern of Orientalism and promote a well-balanced dialogue and communication between different nations.The thesis studies Lu Xun's choice of the original texts, his resistance against the translation flow from a postcolonial perspective, and then discusses Lu Xun's translation strategies in terms of domestication and foreignization. The findings demonstrate that Lu Xun's translation in early period shows a high level of domestication while foreignization is his dominating translation strategy during his later period. This thesis invests a research into Lu Xun's translation phenomenon within the postcolonial framework. Documentation, contrastive analysis and statistic analysis are mainly employed in the dissertation.The thesis is composed of five chapters as follows:Chapter One is the introductory part in which a general description of this research is given.Chapter Two supplies literature reviews. It firstly covers some monographs and papers involving postcolonial theory abroad, then introduces postcolonial theory research in domestic academia.Chapter Three focuses on the introduction of postcolonial theory and its application in translation. Postcolonial theorists consider that Orientalism, in the final analysis, is not merely concerned with how the occident recognizes and interprets the orient, but with hegemony. The occident practices cultural hegemony in the subordinate nations, leading the latter unable to voice their voices on the world stage.Three representatives of this theory are introduced in this chapter. Postcolonial theory and postcolonial translation theory together pave the way for the next chapter. Chapter Four holds a dominant position in this thesis. It deals with the application of postcolonial theories to the translation texts by Lu Xun, to the integration between theories and Lu Xun's translation which highlights the whole thesis. His response to hegemony at that time finds full expression in his translation, his choice of original texts and translation strategies that he adopted.The last part summarizes what have been discussed in the foregoing chapters, and then discusses the unsettled and desired further exploration into the research. In brief, this thesis is intended to position Lu Xun's translation in its specific social, historical and cultural context and to comment upon his major significance for postcolonial criticism and theorization. |
