Translating ‘America’ by Wenyen Gu : a study in cross-cultural translation

Abstract

The main goal of this thesis is to fill the translation gap of Chinese ‘New Generation’ authors and their representation of contemporary disillusionment for English readers. My work aims to strive away from the Chinese literature that is already on the rise and focus on less popular, but just as important, Chinese literary works. In recent days the emphasis in contemporary Chinese literature has switched to a more personal exploration of modern society and the inner struggles of the individual. The writers of the ‘New Generation’ have developed a more global viewpoint and increased formal experimentation, resulting in works that exhibit greater individualism and diversity in both form and content. I have tried to fill this gap by translating a short story titled “America” by a ‘New Generation’ author Wenyan Gu. My reflection analyzes the Mandarin literary language as well as go through excerpts from the source text and my translated version to explain the decisions I have made and reasons as to why I made such choices. As my translation is the first ten-thousand characters of the story, my purpose is to show an introductory section of the novella to English readers on how complex and fascinating the Chinese culture is through literature.