Creative Treason In Sidney Shapiro’s English Translation Of Shui Hu Zhuan

The traditional translation theory is based on the experiences of translation practices, concluding "standards" to judge the translation works and "techniques" to guide translation practice. But since the1950s, translation practice is gradually considered as a cross-cultural communication activity and the translation studies experience a "cultural turn". Not confined to the translation rules and format between languages anymore but seeing the translation work as a result to accept and to study, the translation studies shift its focus from "what is the correct translation" to "how does the translator work? What cultural phenomenon is reflected by the production and acception of the translation work?"The theory of creative treason is born upon the background of the cultural turn of translation studies. It holds that "translation is always a kind of creative treason", and "considering translation treason because the works is brought into a completely unpredictable reference system (language); considering translation creation because it provides a new spirit, even a rebirth to the text." Creative treason not only conforms to the trend of "cultural turn" in translation studies, but also establishes an open translation theory that brings life to the translation studies and broadens its horizon.This thesis reexamines the English versions of Shui Hu Zhuan, one of the "Four Classic Novels" in China, with the new angle of creative treason. Among the four complete English versions of Shui Hu Zhuan, Shapiro’s translation is the most noted and popular one which is of great value to study. The thesis examines the creative treason in Shapiro’s translation from linguistic, rhetorical and cultural perspectives, and then analyses the reasons for its creative treason from several aspects including the subjectivity of the translator, patronage’s influences and the receptors’ influences.It is hoped that by analyzing the translation strategy that Shapiro adopted in his English version of Shui Hu Zhuan and by looking into its reasons, this thesis could be of some significance in further appreciating Shapiro’s translation aesthetics. In addition, it is also an academic attempt to apply Medio-Translatology to the oversea transmission of Chinese literary classics.