Translation as intervention: Wu Mi’s translation of William Thackeray’s novels

ABSTRACT

Wu Mi, a notable scholar and translator in early 20^th-century China, possessed a profound knowledge of Western literature and culture. While there has been extensive research on his conservative views and cultural propositions, his translation agenda has received limited attention. The paper employs Theo Hermans’ theoretical framework of translation as intervention to analyse Wu Mi’s translation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s novels. Through a tactical reading of his translation, the paper argues that Wu Mi utilised translation to modernise Chinese literature, and it further identifies three levels of intervention within the terrain of the New Culture Movement, especially focusing on the themes of modern Chinese fiction, its proper form, and the most effective approach to localising Western literature and modernising Chinese literature. The case study sheds light on the contributions of cultural conservatives to the Chinese modernisation program and invites reflection on the interplay between tradition and modernity, as well as dynamics between local legacy and global influences.

KEYWORDS:

• Wu Mi
• William Thackeray
• literary translation
• intervention
• modernisation of Chinese fiction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Wu Mi introduced Bliss Perry and his books A Study of Prose Fiction and A Study of Poetry to China. Wu Mi’s intellectual encounter with Bliss Perry started during his stay at Harvard, where he took various courses on literature from Perry, including “English Lyric Poetry” “Criticism of Tennyson” and “Types of Fiction in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries”. See Wu Mi, Wu Mi zibian nianpu, 1894–1925, 181–197.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Wuhan University [600460031].

Notes on contributors

Jiang Yun

Jiang Yun obtained her doctoral degree from the Department of English Language and Literature at Peking University. Her research interest includes translation history studies, translation and the production of knowledge and intercultural studies. Her doctoral research is about the translation of Western classics in The Critical Review and its interaction with Chinese modernity.