The Pictures of Dorian Gray: A Cultural Analysis of Six Chinese Trasnlations in Taiwan

[[abstract]]The thesis examines, through a cultural translation studies approach, five Chinese translations and a Chinese adapted translation of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray published in Taiwan. Through a discussion of these translated versions I hope to come up with a diachronic and synchronic description of the translation norm from the early seventies to the present as well an understanding of the cultural negotiation mechanisms in operation in the translating process. In Chapter One, I will provide an overview of the original work and analyze some difficult points in translation. Then Chapter Two will cover all six translations and the kinds of images they create in the acceptant culture. Starting from Chapter Three the focus of discussion will shift to the adapted version Du Lian-Kuei. In analyzing Wang Da-Hong’s experimental work Du Lian-Kuei, I propose an interdisciplinary approach. First, I will use Ji?i Lev?’s linguistic model to determine whether the deviations from the plot in Du Lian-Kuei were necessary due to the social-cultural differences between the target text and source text. Later, in Chapter Four I will apply Andr? Lefevere’s concept of the manipulation of translated texts in the four categories of power, patronage, ideology, and poetics. Chapter Five will be the conclusion. In a close comparison of the original text and the adapted translation, this thesis will explain how the recontextualized Du Lian-Kuei reflects certain singularities that only appear at the historical point of the production of the translation.