A Study Of Julia Lovell's Translator Habitus Based On Pierre Bourdieu's Reflexive Sociology

In recent years,Julia Lovell,the British sinologist and translator of Chinese literature,has successfully translated the Chinese works by Lu Xun,Eileen Chang,Han Shaogong and other Chinese writers,into English.With her English translation of The Complete Fiction of Lu Xun being collected in the Penguin Classics,Lovell has been brought into sharp focus in the Chinese translation field.Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's reflexive sociology and its analytical mode “[(habitus)(capital)+ field = practice],” the present thesis analyzes Julia Lovell's translator habitus and its effect on her practice of English translation of Chinese literature.This thesis first discusses the evolution of Lovell's translator habitus by describing her social trajectory.Then it,through the case study of Lovell's English translation of The Complete Fiction of Lu Xun,analyzes the effect of her habitus on her translation practice in terms of her choice of the source text,translation principles and translation strategies.Lastly,it examines the role Lovell has played in the translation and reception of Chinese literature in the Western literary field.The thesis reaches the following conclusions: a)Lovell's social trajectory,developed through receiving education,working and doing research,determines her translator habitus,i.e.the habitus of emphasizing the general readers' reading habits,conforming to the Western poetics and the love for Chinese literature and culture;b)Oriented by her habitus,Lovell chooses to translate The Complete Fiction of Lu Xun and in the translation process,she holds the translation principles of stressing the general readership and “faithful recreation” by adopting flexible strategies of scheme change,rewording,distribution change,cultural filtering and visibility change;c)Lovell's English translation of The Complete Fiction of Lu Xun is well received in the Western literary field,and her translation practice of Chinese literature influenced by her habitus is inspiring to the project of Chinese literature “going global” in many ways.