Feminist Translation In China-A Comparative Study Of Three Translated Versions Of Jane Eyre

In the 1980s, the "Cultural turn" led by Susan Bassnet and Andre Lefevere began to prevail in translation studies. Consequently more and more scholars have come to focus on a new cultural perspective in translation studies. Along with the flourishing feminist movement, feminist translation theory emerged. In challenging traditional translation theories, it questioned the authority of original texts, the highest principle of "fidelity", and the invisibility requirements of translators. Gender and translation are interrelated in numerous ways. In traditional translation theory, which was rooted in patriarchal culture, translation was demoted to the subordinate and dependent position as women were positioned in "the second sex" status in the patriarchal society. At the same time, traditional translation theory viewed the original text and the translated text as the binary opposition, of which the former one is the end product of an aggressive creating process while the latter is the result of a derivative, passive meaning-transferal process. The original text plays the leading role and dominates the translated text. For a long history, the translators never shared equal respect as authors; they were supposed to look up to the author. The original texts were seen as powerful and strong males, while the translated ones were weak and humble females. The purpose of feminist translation theory is to overturn this idea of pinning down females and translation in the subordinate position. By active manipulation, they want to use the language to speak on behalf of women and demonstrate women's discourse right. They advocate an equal status between translated text and original text as well as between translator and author, and encourage translator's presence and creativity in translation. To fulfill their political achievements, they use language as a weapon to let women's voice be heard through text. Under the guidance of such a theory, western feminist translators adopt radical translation strategies such as, supplementing, prefacing and footnoting, hijacking, as well as coining peculiar women's words to manifest women's identity. The theory has been enthusiastically received among feminists but at the same time it has been questioned and criticized by many critics for its explicit political agenda and radical strategies.Feminist translation theory was introduced in China first by Professor Zhu Hong, who is a leading feminist translator in China. It has had a considerable influence on the translation field and for a period of time it became a fashion to translate female writers' works. Many female translators also displayed their talents. In translation practice, many translators with feminist consciousness began to introduce Chinese female writers'works to the West, to let Chinese women speak in texts and be heard and understood by foreign readers. In translation studies, more and more scholars have shifted emphasis to this field and introduced feminist translation theories to readers. But the content of these researches were not abundant, most of which were introductory and preliminary. Chinese feminist translation has distinctive features, namely, "feminist fidelity", better-disguised political objectives, and moderate manipulation.This thesis is an analysis of the historical background and current situation of Chinese and Western feminist translation. Besides, the author makes a comparative case study of three translations of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. After carefully examining the choice of words of female translators and male translators, the author comes to a conclusion that instead of the three strategies Western feminist translators employ frequently, Chinese feminist translators have four strategies of their own. Their effort is a successful remoulding of the Western feminist translation.