A Comparative Study On English Versions Of Zhuangzi(inner Chapters)from The Perspective Of Socio-translation Studies

Zhuangzi,also known as Nan-Hua Zhen Jing,is a famous Taoist classic written by Master Zhuang and his followers in the pre-Qin Period of China.With extensive and profound contents involving many fields such as politics and philosophy in ancient China,the full text of Zhuangzi consists of thirty-three chapters including seven inner chapters,fifteen outer chapters and eleven miscellaneous chapters.The C-E translation of Zhuangzi began in the second half of the nineteenth century and nine complete versions have been published so far.Of all these English versions,James Legge’s The Writings of Kwang-Tze,which was completed in 1891,is widely accepted as the most authoritative ones in the Western world.Compared with other versions,Wang Rongpei’s translation of Zhuangzi,is the first one finished by a Chinese scholar and selected into the series of “Library of Chinese Classics”.In view of the typicality of these two versions,the author of this thesis conducts a comparative study in order to find out their similarities and differences and provide inspirations for future translations of Chinese classics into English.Based on the sociological theory of Pierre Bourdieu,this thesis makes a comparative analysis of the two English versions of Zhuangzi(Inner Chapters).The author first analyzes the “field” that two translators situated from the perspective of power “field” and translation“field”,and then their specific “capitals” are analyzed from the standpoint of economy,society,and culture.Besides,the symbolic “capitals” are also discussed.Finally,the thesis summarizes the “habitus” formed by the two translators possessed in the process of translation and its influences on their choices of translation strategies and techniques.Through the comparative analysis,the study finds that the translator’s “fields” affect his translation purposes;“fields” and “capitals” have great impacts on the translator’s translation“habitus”,and the translation habitus further affects the translator’s choice of translation strategies and techniques.With the intervention of the religious “field”,James Legge’s translation purpose was to better understand the traditional Chinese thoughts and culture so as to prepare for the spread of the Christian Gospel.On the other hand,Wang Rongpei’s translation “field” was greatly influenced by the literary “field”,and his translation purpose was to improve the acceptability of Chinese culture in the Western world and promote the Chinese culture to "go global",hence he pays more attention to the appeals of ordinary Western readers.In the process of translation,Legge has prominent symbolic “capitals” while Wang has more social and cultural “capitals”.Legge’s professional “habitus” makes his translation more faithful to the original text.He chooses the strategy of foreignization and adds abundant annotations in his translation.With the reader-oriented “habitus”,Wang tends to employ the strategy of domestication,adding or omitting words and phrases as necessary,to make the translation more succinct,readable,and acceptable.