| Robert Hans van Gulik, a Dutch diplomat and orientalist, is well known for his "Judge Dee" series. The "Judge Dee" mysteries are popular in Western countries and have been translated into different languages. Murder in Canton is one story of Judge Dee series. In the 1980s, Chen Laiyuan, Hu Ming and other translators translated the Judge Dee stories into Chinese. They rewrote a great amount in the Chinese version. At the same time, the German version was published in the German-speaking region. In contrast to the Chinese version, there is almost no trace of rewriting in the German version.Andre Lefervere is one of the well-known figures of the school of translation studies. He believes that the rewriters are influenced by the ideology, the poetic elements, the patronage, and the professionals. This thesis will compare and analyse the rewritings in the Chinese and German translations of Murder in Canton and the motivations for the rewritings from the perspective of Lefevere's rewriting theory. The rewritings mainly involve the conflicts among different ethnic groups, the male and female images, local customs and style. The Chinese translators deleted or rewrote the content which do not meet the standard of the mainstream Chinese ideology and poetics in the 1980s. In addition, they adjusted the content featuring abundant Chinese elements in order to cater to the taste of Chinese readers and balance the discourse of universe. The ideology and poetics prevailing in the German-speaking region have much in common with those reflected in the English novel, therefore it is not a surprise that there is little rewriting in the German version. Despite the different translation strategies the German and Chinese versions are highly popular on the markets because the translators consider their own cultural environment. Those who try to translate texts featuring abundant Chinese elements from foreign languages into Chinese language can learn something useful from the Chinese translators'strategy. |
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