On The Reception Of Yan Lianke’s Works In The English World From Bourdieu’s Sociological Perspective

In recent years,the Chinese writer Yan Lianke has become increasingly influential in the English world.His English translation works have received unanimous praise from all walks of life overseas for the literariness and satire.Meanwhile,he was the first Chinese Franz Kafka Prize winner and was nominated for the Man Booker Prize,Man Asia Literary Prize,and Independent Foreign Fiction Award.Yan Lianke attracted much attention from academic circles and ordinary readers,and his works are well-received in the English world.However,there are inadequate studies on the English renditions of his works,and most scholars focus on the study of one translated novel or the translation strategies in the text.Therefore,translation studies on the reception of the English renditions of his works are of great research value.From the perspective of Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological theory,this dissertation adopts qualitative analysis,quantitative analysis,and comparative study to explore the reasons for the reception of Yan Lianke’s works in the English world.Through a large amount of data collection,the author finds that The Four Books and Marrow have formed a large reception difference in the English world.Applying the three core concepts of field,capital,and habitus to analyze the differences between the renditions will provide valuable experiences and lessons for contemporary Chinese literature to “go global”.This dissertation is divided into six parts.The first part introduces the research background,research purpose,research methods,and layout of the dissertation.The second part is the theoretical framework of this research,introducing Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological theory and its application in this research.The third part,the literature review,covers domestic and overseas studies on the English renditions of Yan Lianke’s works and Carlos Rojas(The main translator of Yan Lianke’s works).The fourth part presents the status quo of Yan Lianke’s works in the English world through four aspects: library holdings,publication and sales,reviews from mainstream media as well as ratings and reviews from general readers,and finds out the two translations with a significant gap in reception.The fifth part is an analysis of the reception of Yan Lianke’s works in the English world from Bourdieu’s sociological perspective,which is the key part of the thesis.A comparison between the renditions is made,thus highlighting the influencing factors in the translation process.The final part is the conclusion,summarizing the findings,as well of limitations of this research,and shedding light on the prospect for future studies.