The Landscape of Translation in Shanghai Popular Literary Magazines, 1912-1920s

Based on a historical study of the translation in six popular literary magazines published in early Republican Shanghai, the thesis attempts to explore dynamic cultural landscape of early modern China by reconstructing the ecology and patterns of magazine translation. In line with the perspectives of system theories in Translation Studies, translation is viewed as both functional constituent and shaping force in its cultural settings. With a keen interest in the historicity of texts and notions, the thesis examines magazine translation by analyzing key concepts in system theories such as ‘norm’ and ‘canon’ in the context of early Republican printed media. Translated texts in the magazines under study are also analyzed in comparison with those published in May-fourth journals in the same period. Magazine translation is then presented as a site of conversation, competition and mutual positioning between popular and elite intellectuals. Offering to fill a gap in Chinese translation history with its reconstructive efforts, the thesis proposes an alternative delineation of cultural history against the ‘grand narrative’ that dismisses the literary practices in Shanghai popular magazines as mere residues of the late Imperial era.