Reconsidering Translation From a Bourdieusian Sociological Perspective: A Case Study of the English Translation of Luotuo Xiangzi
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1309.21Keywords:
Luotuo Xiangzi, translation, sociologyAbstract
Translation activities are not isolated, and an increasing number of researchers have applied sociological theories to translation studies, which contributions to interdisciplinary research in translation. Luotuo Xiangzi, written by Lao She, is one of the best modern Chinese novels. Its four English translation versions and translation activities that span decades have deeply interacting with various parts of society. Based on Bourdieu’s sociological theories of the “field”, “capital” and “habitus”, this case study of the English translations of Luotuo Xiangzi explored the relationship and interaction between the translator and other participants (participating groups) in the translation activity. It was discovered that the translation activity could reveal the translator’s habitus and be greatly influenced by interactions with various fields of society and by the capital engaged in the translation activity of Luotuo Xiangzi, providing proof of the explanatory and guiding power of Bourdieu’s sociological theory in translation studies. This paper tries to enrich the interdisciplinary research of sociology and translation and offers additional references for the translation and global dissemination of translated literature, particularly for Chinese literature.
References
Bao, Y. M. (1997). wen hua zi ben yu she hui lian jin shu [Cultural capital and social alchemy: An interview with Bourdieu]. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House.
Berry, M. (2002). The translator’s studio: A dialogue with Howard Goldblatt. Persimmon: Asian Literature, Arts and Culture, 3, 18-25.
Bourdieu, P., & Wacquant, L. J. (1992). An invitation to reflexive sociology. University of Chicago press.
Bourdieu, P. (1993). The field of cultural Production: Essays on Art and Literature. Polity Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1997). The forms of capital in Halsey. Education, culture, economy and society, 46-59.
Chen, L. (2015). cong luotuo xiangzi de ying yi ben shuo kai qu--fan yi jia shi jiaojing fang tan lu [From the English translation of Camel Xiangzi--an interview with translator Shi Xiaojing]. Dong fang fan yi, 05, 55-58.
Fan, J. (2019). kua wen hua shi jiao xia de zhong guo min su wen hua ci yu fan yi yan jiu--yi lao she de luotuo xiangzi ying yi wei li [A Study on the translation of Chinese Folk Culture Words from a cross-cultural perspective -- A Case study of Lao She’s Camel Xiangzi]. Overseas English, (20), 18-19+40.
Gouanvic, J. M. (2005). A Bourdieusian theory of translation, or the coincidence of practical instances: Field,‘habitus’, capital and ‘illusio’. The translator, 11(2), 147-166.
Gotz, M. (1976). The development of modern Chinese literature studies in the West: A critical view. Modern China, 2(3), 397-416.
Holmes, J. S. (2000). orig. 1972. The name and nature of translation studies. In: Venuti, Lawrence (ed.), The translation studies reader (pp. 172-185). London & New York: Routledge.
Hu, A. J. (2010). zhong guo wen xue zou “zou chu qu” zhi yi zhe mo shi ji fan yi ce lve yan jiu--yi mei guo han xue jia ge hao wen wei li [Translator model, translating strategy, and the “going out” project to promote Chinese literature abroad: With American sinolot Howard Goldblatt as an example]. Chinese Translators Journal, 31(6), 10 -16.
Huang, L. B. (2014). luotuo xiangzi san ge yi ben zhong xu shu hua yu de fan yi--yi zhe feng ge yu liao ku kao cha [Translation of narrative discourse in three English versions of Camel Xiangzi-- A corpus investigation of translator’s style]. Journal of PLA University of Foreign Languages, 37(1), 72-80+99.
Hsia, C. T. (2016). A history of modern Chinese fifiction. The Chinese University Press.
Ji, J. (2009). wo yi, gu wo zai--ge haowen fang tan lu [I translate, therefore I am--Interview with Howard Goldblatt]. pi ping jia lun tan, (6), 45-56.
Jin, J. & Wu, P. (2016). luotuo xiangzi ying yi ben zai ying mei guo jia deduzhe jie shou yu chuan bo [An analysis of the reception and dissemination of the English version of Camel Xiangzi in Britain and America]. Journal of Yanshan University (Philosophy and Social Science Edition), (04), 83-86.
Kao, G. (1980). Two Writers and the Cultural Revolution. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.
Lefevere, A. (1998). Translation practice (s) and the circulation of cultural capital: Some Aeneids in English. Constructing cultures: Essays on literary translation, 41-56.
Li, H. M. (2007). bu di e yu fan yi she hui xue de li lun gou jian [Bourdieu and the theoretical construction of translation sociology]. Chinese Translators Journal, (05), 6-9.
Li, Y. J. (2007). Context, translator and history: a study of three translations of Luotuo Xiangzi in the USA.
Li, Y. (2013). Lao She zuopin yingyi yanjiu [A study on the English translation of Lao She’s works]. Intellectual Property Publishing House.
Liu, L. (1995). Translingual practice: Literature, national culture, and translated modernity–China, 1900-1937. Stanford University Press. (Original work published 1995)
Liu, F., & Li, Z. M. (2021). lao she luotuo xiangzi ying yi ben de fu wen ben yan jiu [A study of English versions of Camel Xiangzi from the perspective of the paratext theory]. Journal of Northeast Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences). (06), 58-69.
Merkle, D. (2008). Translation constraints and the “sociological turn” in literary translation studies. In Beyond Descriptive Translation Studies (pp. 175-186). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Pradita, I. (2012). An Introduction To Translation Studies: An Overview. JEE: Journal of English and Education, 6(2), 14.
Sela-Sheffy, R. (2005). How to be a (recognized) translator: Rethinking habitus, norms, and the field of translation. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies, 17(1), 1-26.
Simeoni, D. (1998). The pivotal status of the translator’s habitus. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies, 10(1), 1-39.
Sun, H. J. (2016). Howard Goldblatt and his translation and promotion of mordent and contemporary Chinese fictions. Shanghai Jiaotong University Press.
Wang, Y. C. (2011). cong she hui xue shi jiao kan fan yi xian xiang: Bourdieu she hui xue li lun guan jian ci jie du [Translation through a Bourdieusian sociological lens]. Chinese Translators Journal, (1), 5-13.
Wang, H. T. (2011). gou jian she hui fan yi xue: ming yu shi de bian xi [Socio-Translation studies: the name and nature of a discipline under construction]. Chinese Translators Journal, (1), 14-18.
Wang, X. J. & Zhang, Y. (2018). luotuo xiangzi zhong yuyan wenhua fuzai ci ying yi yan jiu--yi ge haowen yi ben wei li [A Study on the English translation of culture-loaded Words in Camel Xiangzi -- A case study of Goldblatt's translation]. Journal of Anhui University of Science and Technology (Social Science), 2(4), 58-62.
Wolf, M & Fukari A. (eds.). (2007). Constructing a Sociology of Translation. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Xie, M. (2012). luotuo xiangzi zai hai wai de chuan bo yu jie shou [The overseas dissemination and acceptance of Camel Xiangzi]. min zu wen xue yan jiu,127-130.
Xin, H. J. & Fei, Z. Y. (2018). Bourdieu she hui xue li lun guan zhao xia de fan yi xian xiang po xi--yi xu guangqi li madou fan yi ji he yuan ben wei li [Rethinking translation from a Bourdieusian sociological perspective: Euclid’s Elements of Geometry translated by Xu Guangqi and Matteo Ricci]. Foreign Language and Culture, 2(04), 79-88.
Xing, J. (2007). yi zhe si wei guan xi--miao shu fan yi xue xin shi jiao [Translators’ “Habitus”: a new perspective on descriptive translation studies]. Chinese Translators Journal (5), 10-15.
Xing, J. & Chen, J. N. (2020). chang yu li lun shi yu xia ge yi wa fan yi ce lve jie xi [An analysis of Howard Goldblatt’s translation strategy of Frog from the perspective of field theory]. Journal of PLA University of Foreign Languages, 43(02), 59-67.
Xu, J., & Mu, L. (2009). zhong guo fan yi yan jiu (1949-2009) [Translation Studies in China (1949-2009)], Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education.
Yan, Y. X. & Goldblatt, H. (2014). Literary translation: process and criterion -- an interview with Howard Goldblatt. Review of Contemporary Writer, (01), 193-203.
Zhao, M., & Li, D. (2021). Translator positioning in characterisation: a corpus-based study of English translations of Luotuo Xiangzi. Perspectives, 1-23.
Zhang, W., & Fu, N. (2019). Ge haowen fanyi fengge yanjiu [A study on translator’s style of Howard goldblatt]. Shanghai Jiaotong University Press.
