A Study On Image Representation Of Servant Girls In Yang's Translation Of Hong Lou Meng—From The Perspective Of Manipulation Theory

Since the 1970s, with Cultural Turn rising and developing, the western study of translation entered into a brand new era which focused on Cultural Studies. As one of the representatives of Manipulation School, Andre Lefevere proposed to combine the translation study with the macro background of culture. The Manipulation Theory he initiated made a systematic analysis and study on how the manipulative factors such as poetics, ideology and patronage manipulate the translation activity. As a milestone, this theory breaks through the traditional study range and research category, which is of great significance.As a prominent subject, the vivid and exquisite character description is undoubtedly the model among the Chinese classic novels. The large number of servant girls Cao Xueqin portrayed not just play a crucial role in shaping their masters'images and promoting the development of plot, but also reflect the civilization of Chinese society and culture in Qing Dynasty. Among so many English versions, Yang Xianyi's translation, A Dream of Red Mansions, enjoys the most acknowledged praises and reputation, and it has been studied and discussed the most.Based on Lefevere's Manipulation Theory, this article conducts a case study of A Dream of Red Mansions. Through the contrast analysis between the original version and Yang's version, the author discusses whether the translator gets manipulated by Manipulative Factors during the translation process, and how these factors deviate image representation by affecting the translator's choice of translation strategies.The author concludes, firstly Yang's life experiences and education background shaped his individual poetics and ideology, and influenced his further formation of translation concept. Secondly, China's politics, economy and culture during 1950s to 1970s exerted an unavoidable impact and restriction on him. To be more specific, the dominant poetic and ideology in China played an important role in Yang's translation process, such as the omission of the feudal superstition, the underplay of sex, the rewriting of hierarchy, etc. Besides, due to the manipulation of the patronage. Foreign Language Press,Yang's version preserves more Chinese classic style of the original and adopts the strategy of foreignization by literal translation in most cases. As a result, the effects that Manipulative Factors exerted on Yang's translation lead to the deviation of the servant girls'image representation to some extent. Consequently, the original image and the underlying culture cannot be presented in a complete and loyal way.