Abstract This thesis is based on the study of culture-oriented translation theories.Lin Shu’s translation has given rise to a good number of discussions in China and abroad since the early twentieth century. Despite that the translator has long been famous for being indulged in deletion and sinicization, little crucial attention has been paid to cultural elements appearing in his works, and even less, as far as I know, has been attempted to study them from the perspective of Lin’s reformism generated by Qing Dynasty’s self-strengthening efforts and the whole cultural context. Through a critical study of Yinbian yanyu, a rendition of Charles and Mary Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare published by the Commercial Press in 1904, the thesis presents a new reading method—situating translation within the target/culture-oriented framework.  69673

Not providing judgment,the thesis aims to explicate that translation is more than a linguistic effort. It is always situated in some historical events, so it should be judged and understood ultimately on the basis of such a context. 

Keywords: target/culture-oriented translation theory; Yinbian yanyu; reformism; context

摘要本文的研究是基于文化导向的翻译理论。自二十世纪初以来，林纾的翻译引发了国内外众多的讨论，译者因翻译作品时大量删减和中国化而出名,但研究者很少注重探究林纾作品背后的文化因素,据我所知,从林纾的改良zhuyi和文化语境的角度的研究更为少见。通过对林纾翻译查尔斯和玛丽.兰姆的《莎士比亚故事集》改名《吟边燕语》的作品分析，本文提出了新的阅读方法,那便是从目的语文化语境角度解读作品。

本文重在阐释，旨在表明翻译不仅仅是语言方面的努力，更是处于特定历史事件中的活动, 所以最终应基于这样的语境评判和理解翻译作品。

毕业论文关键词：目的语文化导向翻译理论； 《吟边燕语》；改良zhuyi；语境

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

3. Theoretical Basis 2

3.1 Translators' main goals 3

3. 2 The role and function of translation 4

3.3 Translation strategies 4

4. Characteristics of Lin Shu's Translated Works from English to Chinese 5

4.1 Rewriting and creation 5

4.2 Omission 7

4.3 Classical Chinese 8

5. Case Study: Yinbian yanyu From the Perspective of History and Target Culture 10

5.1 Translation as an instrument for reform 10

5.2 Penetration of traditional beliefs 11

5.23 Penetration of western elements 11

6. Conclusion 12

Works Cited 13

1. Introduction 

Lin Shu (alias Lin Qinnan, 1852-1924) is quite known for his translated works of Western literary works into classical Chinese. Yet his translated works have long been belittled as “unfaithful” by subsequent scholars who focus on original text rather than the target culture. Lin Shu’s translated works influenced in changing the traditional Chinese perception of seeing western culture as “low” art, but also gave great inspiration to Chinese writers and reformers in he May Fourth period. The thesis is related with both the study of Lin Shu’s translation and contemporary translation studies. 论文网