George Kin Leung’s English Translation of Lu Xun’s A Q Zhengzhuan

Abstract

Republican China (1912–49) saw the rise and fall of a sub-field of source cultureinitiated foreign language translations of Chinese literature targeted at both expatriate and domestic audiences in China. This unique translation phenomenon, which challenges Gideon Toury’s generally held assumption that “translations are facts of target cultures,” has hitherto been under-researched in and outside of China. This paper presents the findings of a case study of George Kin Leung’s English translation of Lu Xun’s fictional masterpiece A Q Zhengzhuan (The True Story of Ah Q). Four socio-cultural factors which engendered the emergence of this sub-field in the early Republican years are analyzed. Inspired by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of the field of cultural production, this putative sub-field of restricted production is interpreted as functioning primarily on the basis of the accumulation of symbolic capital. Leung’s participation in the dynamics of this historical field is examined by tracing his professional trajectory, followed by an analysis of his motivation for translating A Q Zhengzhuan – to make a name for himself or to accumulate symbolic capital in the field. It is then found through text analysis that Leung’s version shows a combination of overall literalness and occasional license. A tentative explanation is sought by drawing on André Lefevere’s theory of rewriting. The primary conclusion is that Leung’s literalistic approach to translation was dictated by the intended readership and the translation norm (i.e., literal translation) that prevailed in 1920s’ China, while the liberties Leung took with the original text reveal the influence ofhis ideology, poetics and aesthetics.