Chapter Four A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE TRANSLATIONSTRATEGIES OF THE IMPORTANCE OF LIVING AND ITSDISSEMINATION IN THE US........................31
4.1 An Analysis of The Importance of Living’s Dissemination in the US in Terms ofField..................... 32
4.1.1 Political field: glorious allies-the outbreak of the Pacific War........................32
4.1.2 Economic field: under the shadow of economic depression...........................35
Chapter Five CONCLUSION...................................69
5.1 Major Findings............................69
5.2 Limitations of the Present Research and Implications for Further Studies........... 70
5.3 Further Suggestions............................ 71
Chapter FourA SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THETRANSLATION STRATEGIES OF THEIMPORTANCE OF LIVING AND ITSDISSEMINATION IN THE US
4.1 An Analysis of The Importance of Living’sDissemination in the US in Terms of Field
A field is a space where individual agents operate within a preexisting system ofrelations that determines and constrains their action, framing and limiting theirpossibilities and room for maneuver. The concept of field implies that some activitiesare relatively autonomous, since they have their own rules, institutions, and specialcapital, for which agents belonging to the field compete (Bourdieu, 1993). Theseagents’ beliefs and practices, as well as their strategies, are informed by their habitus, i.e.their cultural and ethical disposition and the kind of resources they possess (economic,cultural, and social capital) according to their family background, education, and socialtrajectory, and, secondly, by the position they occupy in the field according to theirspecial capital, newcomers being dominated by the established agents who control thefield. (Bourdieu, 1993). Since I focus largely on reception, I view the translated text assubject to the same logic as the indigenous text within the literary field, rather thanlocating it within a separate field of translation (Gouanvic, 2005, p. 19).
4.1.1 Political field: glorious allies-the outbreak of the Pacific War
With the deepening of the war crisis, the outbreak of the Pacific War and theadvance of war, the demand of America to have a better understanding of China wasalso increasing. In the book a Foreigner’s Visit to China’s War of Resistance againstJapan, John King Fairbank recorded his experience of being recruited by the USgovernment to serve in an academic institution for the war. In the summer of 1941, thenewly established intelligence Coordination Bureau was working on the establishmentof a global intelligence and secret service organization, and academics from variousuniversities were called on in the research and analysis department. The newintelligence Coordination Bureau is of great value in gathering scholars with expertknowledge and all the old China hands in Washington. At that time, every governmentagency suddenly felt the need of staff that was familiar with the situation in China. Thefriends we met in Beijing or throughout China in the past four years arrivedimmediately and there are more and more old China hands coming every week.
Chapter FiveCONCLUSION
5.1 Major Findings
By the end of the 1990s, the western translation academia had started to applysociological theories in translation studies among which the concepts in Theory ofPractice put forward by Pierre Bourdieu were most frequently borrowed. Based onBourdieu’s Sociological theory, especially his habitus, field and capital theory, andtaking Lin Yutang’s The Importance of Living as a case study, the thesis explores thefactors behind Lin’s The Importance of Living’s popularity in terms of his choice oftranslation material and his translation strategies.
Firstly, the formation of Lin Yutang’s translator’s habitus has a great influence onhis selection of translation materials, translation views and translation strategies. Hischoice of translating some spiritual literature and Chinese Taoist and Chungtsu’sphilosop
