A Study On The Selection Of Source Texts Of Children's Literature For Translation In China From 1898-1949

In studies of literature translation history and children's literature history,children's literature translation in China is paid less attention which is only presented as the introduction of representative translators and translated children's works.The current studies of children's literature translation mainly focus on the reception and the influence of the translated children's works.The choice of the text of translated children's works is ignored.Therefore,this thesis tries to study the choice of the text of translated children's works in China under the socio-cultural context when they were translated.First,this thesis lists all the translated children works during the period 1898-1949 chronologically.The author finds out that the selection of source texts presents different features in quantity,the source writers,the genre and the themes in the following three period 1898-1919,1920-1936 and 1937-1949.1)In terms of the source countries,from1898 to1919,the translated children's works were mainly from the Western countries and Japan.From 1920 to 1936,foreign children's works from all over the world were introduced to China.At the same time,children's works of Soviet Union and weak nations were paid special attention.From 1937-1949,children's works from Soviet and America were translated in a large number.2)In terms of genre,novel accounted for the most of the total translated children's works from 1898 to 1919.From 1920-1936,the number of fairy tales ranked the first.However,the number of translated fairy tales decreased to a large extent during the period 1937-1949 while scientific works were translated in a large number.3)In terms of the source writer,from 1898-1919,science-fiction writers of France and Japan were popular.From 1920 to 1936,the source writers were romantic writers,realistic writers and socialist writers.From 1937-1949,the source writers of translated children's literature of Soviet Union were also soldiers.4)In terms of the themes of the selected children's literature,patriotic novels,adventure novels,science fiction and novels of education prevailed from 1898 to 1919.From 1920 to 1936,Children-oriented translated children's works appeared.Besides,some translated children's works focused on the spreading of Western thoughts,reflecting the sufferings of the society and arousing the class consciousness.From 1937 to 1949,the themes of the translated children's literature were all about preaching heroism,inspiring the confidence,smoothing the soul and pressing for the growth.This thesis tries to present the source countries,genre and themes of the translated children's works during 1898-1949 and analyzes those features under the socio-context when the translated childeren's works were translated.