Rethinking Translationese

The term,"translationese" gets involved in many scholars' works,but most definitions or understandings are based on perceptual knowledge or isolated perspectives; thus research on translationese still lacks a strong theoretical support.Such words as "strange,unusual,or westernized" are traditionally connected with translationese. However,unnatural expressions in Lu Xun's late translations can be found everywhere, but they are seldom termed as translationese for the derogative color of this term.This raises the stimuli for the study of the present thesis.Former studies and statements on this issue are usually linguistic-oriented.A new explanatory model in the present paper,namely the Integrated Approach is proposed so as to give a comprehensive view on the topic of this thesis.Together with this model, analysis of Lu Xun's translations illustrates the feasibility of this new holistic approach. Through the rethinking of traditional conception,we put forward a new understanding of this term:translationese is neither a simply white-black notion,nor a good-bad concept. Translationese is an issue that can be studied from a linguistic perspective in order to find its linguistic features;researched from a socio-cultural perspective to find the external causes of this particular phenomenon;interpreted from a philosophical perspective to distinguish the notion with some traditional bias;and analyzed from a functional approach so as to reveal its social functions in a particular time.In other words, translationese is a translation phenomenon occurring in some particular time,having its unique linguistic features,and conditioned by the socio-cultural factors of that age, performing its special social function in its time.Classical or semi-classical Chinese dominated the poetics of Lu Xun's time,while the deficiency as Lu Xun had realized hindered the steps of social evolution.Thus the adoption of foreignization is no-accidental.Through this integrated approach,in which parole analysis,social-cultural factors and ideology are included,a comprehensive evaluation can be given to Lu Xun's translations.The Japanese war as well as some other social factors prompted Lu Xun to take foreignizing translation strategies.The strangeness of Lu Xun's translation and his controversy on translation with contemporary writers such as Liang Shiqiu are not caused by his deficiency of languages nor his seriousness of literary creation,but by some socio-cultural factors;from a functional perspective,his translation accelerated the maturing process of vernacular(or baihua) Chinese.