A Comparative Study of English Versions of Luotuo Xiangzi：From Medio-Translatology Perspective

University of International Business and Economics,Beijing,China Email:jinjie0803@126.com

Lu Ruixi①

Beijing Language and Culture University,Beijing,China Email:gjylrx@gztrc.edu.cn

[Abstract]This paper aims to investigate how the translator’s cultural identity,translation strategies,reception process and social environment have an influence on translation practices.It adopts two English versions of Luotuo Xiangzi,a masterpiece of Chinese writer Lao She,and analyses them from the perspective of medio-translatology proposed by Xie Tianzhen instead of the traditional pure linguistics theories.It is found that these two English versions respectively present an academically-driven personal interest,and a market-driven translation practice.Receptors tend to interpret the translated text with their own knowledge and experience,and are affected by the economic and political environment they live in as well.

[Keywords]English versions of Luotuo Xiangzi;medio-translatology;social environment

Introduction

With the cultural turn of western translation studies in 1970s,translators realized that literary translation should not be confined to the research from the pure linguistics but to the deeper level of culture(Bassnett,1993; Lefevere,2004).Chinese scholar Xie Tianzhen(1999)advocates that translator’s cultural identity,translation strategies,reception process and social environment will have an influence on translation practices and cultural transmission.Based on the fact that previous studies are largely conducted from pure translation theory or linguistic level,this paper selects two English versions ofLuotuo Xiangzi,a Chinese novel written by Lao She,as a typical case study in modern and contemporary literary translation.Through the analysis of those two English versions,Rickshaw:the Novel Lo-t’o Hsiang Tzu translated by Jean M.James and Rickshaw Boy translated by Howard Goldblatt,from the perspective of medio-translatology,this paper attempts to find out the influence of two translations in the target country,and the reasons why they are accepted in different area at a certain time.It also aims to provide more theoretical evidence for the possibility and rationality of the translation of traditional Chinese works.

Methodology and Theoretical Framework

A combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis is adopted in this paper.Qualitative analysis refers to the descriptive study of these two English versions ofLuotuo Xiangziin the USA in order to carry out an in-depth research.In addition,the paper uses a blended method of universal study and case study to do textual analysis for the materials.Quantitative study is adopted to figure out readers’reception effect and the number of English versions of this novel distributed in American university libraries.

This paper makes a comparative study of English versions ofLuotuo Xiangzifrom the perspective of creative treason which is the theoretical basis of medio-translatology.Translator’s creative treason and creative treason of receptor and reception context are mainly the two aspects of creative treason,which will be further discussed to answer the questions:what are the translators’cultural identity and translation strategies adopted by two translators ofLuotuo Xiangzi?How receptors interpret these two English versions of the novel and why they behave in that way?

Translator’s Creative Treason in Two Translations of Luotuo Xiangzi

Individualized Translation in Two Translations of Luotuo Xiangzi

One of the major features of individualized translation is domestication.It means that using extremely natural and fluent language to express the original meaning from surface level,but as a matter of fact,it comes up with a problem that translation’s culture is likely to cover the original works’culture to some extent.Another feature of individualized translation is foreignization,which means the translation is much closer to the original works and maintains the original flavor for target readers(Venuti,1995).

It is well known that Rickshaw Boy is a typical Beijing style novel that contains numerous cultural phenomena,such as address terms,slang and idioms,culture-loaded words,and political terms,all of which have rich cultural connotation.The strategies James and Goldblatt have adopted in translating these terms are worthy of being discussed to study their creative treason.Here are the examples aimed to illustrate translation strategies like domestication and foreignization in two translations ofLuotuo Xiangzi.

Original text：祥子在棚里坐着呢，人模狗样的，脸上的疤被灯光照得象块玉石。

（老舍,2014,p.113）

James’translation：And there was that Hsiang Tzu sitting inside the mat shed:a man in

shape but a dog by nature.The greenish light made the scaron his face resemble a

bit of jade.（James,1979,p.133）

Goldblatt’s translation：Xiangzi,who was sitting in the tent,struck him as repugnant,his

scar looking like a chunk of jade in the lamplight.（Goldblatt,2010,p.165）

The Chinese idiom“人模狗样”means pretending to be what one is not.It tends to express ironical attitude and disrespect to people.In Chinese culture,“狗”means“dog”,which is usually thought to be negative such as“狼心狗肺”and“猪朋狗友”.In this novel,Fourth Master Liu,Huniu’s father,is not satisfied with Xiangzi and looks down upon him so that this idiom refers Liu’s disguise and dissatisfaction about Xiangzi.In the translation of James,she translated this idiom literally as“a man in shape but a dog by nature”.In American culture the image of“dog”is loyal and friendly to people,so her translation is likely to make target language readers confused and misunderstood.They may have no ideas whether this expression is positive or negative.On the contrary,in Goldblatt’s translation,he translates into“struck him as repugnant”where an adjective is used instead of the images of“人”and“狗”,which expresses Liu’s disgusting feelings towards Xiangzi.Therefore,Goldblatt’s translation is brief and concise at the cost of sacrificing the cultural images.It tends to be target-culture oriented in order to make the translated text intelligible and easy for the target readers,but James’s translation attempt to preserve foreign flavor and transfer the source language and culture into the target one.

Original text：在这一段里，该快活快活的时候还不敢去干，地道的傻子；过了

这村便没有这店！这么一想，他连虎妞的那回事儿都不想发愁了。（老舍,2014,p.98）

James’translation:You are an absolute idiot if you are afraid of enjoying yourself then

when you should be happy.There won't be another inn once you've passed through

this village!Such thoughts made him think even the business with Hu Niu wasn't

all that depressing.(James,1979,p.97)

Goldblatt’s translation:Only a fool will pass up the chance to enjoy a bit of life,since,as

the saying goes,there are no more inns after this village.Seen this way,even the

situation with Huniu was nothing to fret over.(Goldblatt,2010,p.121)

“过了这村便没有这店”is a well-known Chinese common saying,which means a rare good chance.It is usually used to warn people such a good opportunity will never come back if it cannot be grasped in time.James translated this phrase from its literal meaning“There won’t be another inn once you’ve passed through this village!”Goldblatt translated it in a similar way“there are no more inns after this village“It is found that both James and Goldblatt adopted foreignization strategy.On the one hand,they preserve Chinese traditional culture which reflects colloquial style and Beijing flavor expression.On the other hand,this kind of translation is not easy for readers to understand what is the author’s intention and why it mentioned inns or village in this situation.

Mistranslation and Omission in Two Translations of Luotuo Xiangzi

Mistranslation and omission are very common to see in literary translation,since there will emerge misunderstanding for target readers.They reflect a lack of culture background between source language and target language(Xie,1999).There are a great many Beijing flavor vocabulary in Lao She’sLuotuo Xiangzi,so it is quite difficult for foreign translators to translate Chinese dialect and convey the right meaning to readers whose mother tongue is not Chinese.Therefore,it is inevitable to occur mistranslation and omission in literary translation.Here are the examples showing mistranslation and omission in Glodblatt and James’translation.

Original text：气长也还算小事，一般车夫万不能争这项生意的原因，大半还是

因为这些吃洋饭的有点与众不同的知识，他们会说外国话。（老舍,2014,p.2）

James’translation：But stamina is not what matters.The reason all the other rickshaw

men cannot compete for the foreign trade is because these“eaters of foreign food”have

a smattering of exotic knowledge.(James,1979,p.2)

Goldblatt’s translation：Stamina is only one reason why most pullers will not compete

for this business,for this group of men can deal with their foreign passengers in

their own languages.(Goldblatt,2010,p.2)

James translated“吃洋饭”directly into“eaters of foreign food”.It makes the translation a bit strange if target readers do not know about China’s history in the 1900s.It is mistranslation.As a matter of fact,“吃洋饭”means rickshaw boys who know some simple conversations in English and have the privileges to serve only foreign passengers.In contrast,Goldblatt omitted the phrase“吃洋饭”and put in a general meaning together with the latter sentence like“this group of men can deal with their foreign passengers in their own languages”.Surely,it is quite difficult for a foreign translator to translate Chinese idioms.,so it’s very common to see such mistranslation.

Creative Treason of Receptor and Reception Context in Two Translations of Luotuo Xiangzi

Translators and Their Translation

Receptor in literary translation includes translator and reader.Translator has dual identity in literary translation.Translator is the reader and receptor to the source text and he is also the sender or exporter of the information of the source text(Xie,1999).Jean M.James and Howard Goldblatt are the translators of theLuotuo Xiangzi,who all come from the USA but differ in life experience and social environment,as well as their translation purpose.

When Jean M.James translated this novel,she was a Ph.D.candidate in Art History from the University of Iowa.Then she became an American researcher and worked exclusively in academia after she received her Ph.D.degree.James has translated two of Lao She’s novels,Rickshaw in 1979 and Ma and Son in 1982.In her preface,James introduces Lao She’s life,his writing experience and philosophy,social background and characters’spiritual mind at that time from a broad perspective.James provides readers with a panoramic preface aimed at helping foreign scholars have easy access to the original setting,provoking their interests to read this novel,which will boost the spread ofLuotuo Xiangziin western world.

As for Goldblatt,he is considered as“the premier translator of contemporary Chinese literature”,and translated nearly forty novels by about twenty modern or contemporary writers of Mainland China.With regard toLuotuo Xiangzi,Goldblatt made a decision to present readers a new version due to the“imperfect former translations”of the novel.Goldblatt suggests that readerability is a kind of manifestation of faithfulness,so he tries his best to use lively and colloquial words to give readers an acceptable translation(Berry,2002).Compared with James’preface focused on the explanation of original text and the author’s writing concept,Goldblatt’s preface lays stress on interaction between Lao She and international society,as well as the domestic politics influence on Lao She.It is found that Goldblatt pays attention to Lao She’s personal experience and his literary activities from a global perspective rather than that of James’traditional translation pattern.

Library Collections and Readers’Reviews

When searching for WorldCat，the world’s most comprehensive database of information about library collections,it can be found that there are 119 libraries which have a collection of Rickshaw Boy translated by Howard Goldblatt with four different editions.When it comes to Rickshaw:the Novel Lo-t’o Hsiang Tzu,1010 libraries have a collection of James’translation with six different editions.Statistics from Goodreads and Amazon show that most of the reviews are associated with Goldblatt’s translation,suggesting that James’translation has the largest collection in American university library,whereas Goldblatt’s translation is the most popular one until now.

Through these book reviews,we can learn thatLuotuo Xiangziis very popular among foreign readers.They like the plot and characters Lao She depicted in this novel and they are able to acquire some knowledge of Chinese culture in 1930s.Most of the readers can understand what the story is going to tell and they tend to use their own language to express their feelings about the leading character,Xiangzi,and their sympathy with the final unfortunate ending.Most readers think that Xiangzi’s surrender to life or his not working hard eventually lead to the miserable life.However,they ignore the social environment in 1930s when people have slightest opportunities to change their life and have no control of their fate.The harder a person works,the more disappointed he will become.The current society swallowed people’s dream and their ambitions.Lao She tries to use an ironic tone to describe this miserable story.However,due to different translations from different translators,readers are likely to accept the ideas from diverse perspective.

Economic and Political Environment

Jean M.James and Howard Goldblatt’s translations are produced in 1979 and 2010 respectively.It’s quite a different time in both China and abroad.Foreigners’attitudes towards China have been dramatically changed during these years.

Jean M.James finished her translation ofLuotuo Xiangziin 1979.It was produced in a time when mutual enmity between the PRC and the USA began to quiet down.Before that time,the dominant ideology in the United States was anti-communism and to accept the capitalist culture,religion and democracy.After President Nixon visited China in 1972,it took seven years before normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries was achieved.In addition,American academia hoped to transform China with its own assumptions about what was good for China—market economy,celebration of sciences and technology,adoption of a democratic political system,etc.The expansion of higher education since the 1960s had produced a large number of intellectuals who were eager to conduct research about China and prove the universality of American values,and ultimately,pave the way for the hope to force these values on China.With growing concerns about China,more graduate students were enrolled to study Chinese,and apparently Jean M.James was one of those academics born of such a time.

Goldblatt translatedLuotuo Xiangziin 2010.Two years after the 29th Olympic Game held in China,Beijing.The successful and spectacular games would have laid proof not only to China’s abilities in organizing and managing“the largest and most complex global event”but also to its reliability and indispensability as a member of the international community.It would have a strong impact on social,political,and economic developments in China.

With the widely cultural exchange among all the nations,cultural difference in global context has been more and more salient.A large number of readers showed great interest in“innovation”,“difference”of national literature.Readers now hold a liberal attitude towards foreign literature when a great many foreign translation flock into American market.They are not satisfied with fixed pattern and text-oriented novels any more.Instead,they give priority to novels with diverse text and innovative content.Goldblatt respects the original version and retains most of its plots and content,which meet readers’need for foreign literature.

Conclusion

Through the analysis of these two English versions ofLuotuo Xiangzi,it it found that the two translators’cultural identity and translation strategies are quite different.James tends to the individualized foreignization while Goldblatt prefers individualized domestication.In addition,Translation methods reflect the difference in two translators’cultural identity.James mainly uses mistranslation and word-for-word translation while Goldblatt adopts omission and conscious mistranslation.It means that their ways of spreading culture are different and their target readers and reception context are quite different as well.

Furthermore,readers usually interpret the translated text with their comprehensive knowledge to make creative treason.They usually live in a certain society and are influenced and restricted by some factors of society and then the process of making creative treason will become complicated as a result.At present the cultural communication between China and the United States becomes frequent so it is likely for the American readers to receive and absorb Chinese culture.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research project is supported by Science Foundation of Beijing Language and Culture University(supported by“the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities”)(18ZDJ02).

This research project is supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,and the Research Funds of Beijing Language and Culture University(20YCX047).