A Study Of Wang Keyi’s Translation Of Great Expectations From The Perspective Of Manipulation Theory

Enlightened by the rise of the "cultural turn," the1980s witnessed a significant breakthrough in the field of translation research, and translation has since been examined with fresh perspectives. As one of the most important theories in the cultural translation school, the theory of manipulation advanced by Andre Lefevere focuses on the the ways ideology, poetics and patronage shape translation process and hence offers viable tools for the study of literary translation. Given that Great Expectations (1861) remains one of the most important works created in Charles Dickens’ matured period, and that its Chinese translation《远大前程》(1979) by Wang Keyi was completed in a remarkably peculiar historical period in China, a study of the rewriting phenomena of Wang Keyi’s version from the perspective of manipulation would yield, as the present thesis assumes, promising insights for the understanding, analysis and study of the act and art of literary translation.Based on the analysis of the myriad examples from Wang’s translation, this thesis argues that the three factors of ideology, poetics and patronage have indeed influenced Wang’s rewriting behaviors. Firstly, the social ideology in which Wang’s text was created permeates Wang’s treatment of names, places and cultural phenomenon. Secondly, in Wang’s translation, there exists westernized grammar and the retaining of idioms and other traditional Chinese elements-a kind of rendering obviously shaped by the new poetic standards in the new China. Lastly, New China’s ideology, diplomatic considerations as well as publishing priorities in cultural industry all points to the power of patronage that has wielded on Wang’s version.