A Study Of The Source-text Selection Of The Translated Fictions In The Eastern Miscellany(1904-1927) From The Perspective Of Rewriting Theory

Periodicals made great contribution to introducing translated literature into China at the beginning ofthe twentieth century. Among which, the Eastern Miscellany was the most influential and comprehensivemagazine in modern Chinese history and provided a platform for translated works. However, hardly anyresearches have been conducted in the translated literature of this magazine. André Lefevere points outthat translation is not done in a vacuum and it is manipulated by social factors in the receiving context. Andthe source data are generally filtered for accommodating the social requirements in the target society. Thus,translation studies cannot be simply confined to the code-switching in its linguistic layer. It should involvethe translation process from source-text selection to its reception in the target society. Due to the limitedspace, this dissertation mainly analyzes the source-text selection of the translated literature published in theEastern Miscellany and explores the fundamental cause for the change of the source-texts in the MayFourth period.This research analyzes the source countries, writers and texts and further reveals that the selection ofthe translated literature exhibits different features in two different periods. It precisely illustrates thefeasibility of Lefevere’s viewpoint that the source-texts are mainly manipulated by the dominant ideology.In the pre-reform period (1904-1919), the literary works are generally selected from the Western powersand also convey the enlightening thoughts for the purpose of learning from the West and then conductingsocial enlightenment. In the post-reform period (1920-1927), to meet the requirements of the age with thevictory of October Revolution and the outbreak of the May Fourth Movement, the number of the works issharply increased and the literature is full of humanism and also exposes the social reality. Besides, theliterary works of the Russia, Japan and small oppressed nations are more favored as an encouraging power.It met the social requirements of “reconstructing China and Chinese people’s thoughts” during that period.The poetological manipulation over the source-texts in the magazine mainly reflects in the selection ofthe literary genre and literary device, etc. In the late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic China, translatedfiction is mainly in the form of serial novel. In the reformed period, to cater to the New Cultural Movementand enrich Chinese literary system, short stories are imported with the advantages of compact structure and persuasive power. Moreover, for remedying Chinese traditional literature, new literary device is introducedand naturalistic writing skill is highly advocated. Besides, the change of the literary language is also thedistinctive translation phenomenon and it is also briefly discussed.In conclusion, translation materials are never selected at random. The selection is manipulated by thesocial ideology and poetics in the target context. Meanwhile, the manipulation of the two control factors isnot independent from and of noninterference with each other. In most cases, they interact to shape thetranslation together. Nevertheless, the manipulation of the ideology is more powerful than that of thepoetics. Taking the Eastern Miscellany as a case, it is the socially dominated ideology that leads to thedifferent features of the source-text selection in both periods.