Multicultural Context, Xu Chi, Translated As "walden" Modern Interpretation

David Thoreau's Walden has been introduced into China for more than50 years since it was first translated by Xu Chi in 1949. The translationhistory of Walden consists of two major periods: the first starts from the1940's, and the second from the 1980's up till now. There are altogether morethan ten Chinese versions of Walden, and Xu's translated text is consideredthe classic and has influenced the later translated texts of Walden in China.The paper, inspired by the polysystem theories of Even-Zohar, attempts todiscuss Xu's translated text within the multicultural context of that particulartime, and investigates his experiments with the language, image, and variouskinds of formal features in his translation.This thesis is divided into three chapters:The first chapter argues that Xu translated Walden with Europeanizedstrategy in a context of New Cultural Movement in the 1940's in China. Thataccounts why Xu's language is so brief and close to the style of Thoreau's,which helps convey the ideas of Thoreau perfectly.The second chapter discusses that Xu has captured the images in Waldenand recaptured them to the readers successfully. Meanwhile, he hasreconstructed some images according to Thoreau's thoughts when necessary.Thus, Xu's translated text has gracefully expressed Thoreau's philosophicalideas and his adhering to the conviction of simplification in life. In one word,the translated text itself has been a classic book of meaningful and wisdom in China.The third chapter discusses the multicultural context of that particulartime when Xu translated Walden under a perspective of polysystem. As amediator between two poetic systems, he has adopted the "bringing the readerto the author" strategy and on the other hand, he took the acceptability ofreaders into account and remedied while ameliorated the weaknesses whichthe "bringing the reader to the author" strategy might have brought.