Science Of Communication And The Translation Of Chinese Wuxia Novel

In the pure Chinese literary study, Wuxia novel is a unique branch amongnumerous genres that the contemporary literature of China boasts of. It features highentertainment values, with its composition aiming at general Chinese public andexcellently catering for their needs and reading fancies. Therefore, since the newschool Wuxia was born in the1950s, reading fevers for Wuxia novels have neverreally stopped. The Wuxia genre is no doubt a dominant component of Chinese lightliterature or pop literature.However, the new school Wuxia evolved itself from the old school, where thereare not only inheritances but also innovations. Representatives of the modern Wuxiacomposers, such as Liang Yusheng, Jin Yong and Gu Long, have combined Chineseand western novel-writing techniques in their Wuxia novel creation. Furthermore, byimporting modern western notions such as democracy and humanism, they haveconsciously refined and improved the Chinese cultural knowledge and spirits whichare often richly reflected in a Wuxia novel. As a result, the new school Wuxia novelis worthy of attention from researchers on serious literature.As regards translation studies relative with Wuxia novel, some efforts have alsobeen made in mainland China. Being inspired by and making use of science ofcommunication, this thesis endeavors to examine the dual domestic and internationalcommunication process of a piece of Wuxia work in a panoramic way and address itsacceptability problems in the west, in order to recreate its popularity as an Englishtranslation as an effective way to transport traditional Chinese culture westward. Thegenre’s nature as well as the secrets concerning its popularity with a Chineseaudience are explored, which basically reveals two major conflicts existent in currentWuxia translation activities, namely the conflict between the nature and functions ofa Wuxia novel and its artificial orientation as a literary classic, and that between English translation and the writer’s fame. At last, a series of suggestions areproposed in the hope that they would guide the English translation of Wuxia novel.To cite as an example and to justify the foregoing discussions in the paper, thethesis takes the English translation of Shujian Enchou Lu as the subject for casestudy. Although Graham Earnshaw is not an expert in Chinese literature and Chineseculture, his compliance with the guidelines discerned from the perspective of scienceof communication has freed him from various contradictions and bewildermentswhich may have had bad effects on the marriage of the literary translation with anideal communication effect. Therefore, the English version of Shujian Enchou Lu iswelcomed by the western masses and Chinese traditional culture is transmittedsuccessfully through it.