On the Rendering of Intertextuality in Chinese-to-English Literary Translation: A Case Study on the English Translation of Renmian Taohua

Abstract

Canaan Morse's translation of the novella Renmian Taohua, rendered as Peach Blossom Paradise, was the first translation of Chinese literature shortlisted for the National Book Award for Translated Literature. This paper takes a descriptive approach to examine Morse's translation strategies and methods of rendering the intertextual representations of the source text with the aid of the analytical model proposed by Charles Bazerman. Through close reading, analysis, and comparison, this study indicates that struggling with the inherent tension between foreignization and domestication, Morse used two types of translation methods: retaining the intertextual representations of the source text; intertextually connecting the target text with target language texts or previous English translations of Chinese literature. Whichever method is chosen, the target text is always faithful to the source text at the semantic or functional level. The choice of translation strategies and methods were influenced by both individual and sociocultural factors including the translator's view on literary translation, the marginal position held by Chinese literature within the Western literary systems, and the unbalanced exchanges between China and the West.