Translation of British Gothic Fiction(1764-1834)in China:One Hundred Years
Gothic fiction is a literary genre with unique aesthetic mechanism in Western literature.Since British novelist Horace Walpole′s The Castle of Otranto was translated and published into Chinese in 1914,the translation history of Gothic fiction in China has been more than a century.There are three stages in the history of Gothic translation.In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China,one novel and two short stories were translated into Chinese.Because of the translators'"creative treason",the core elements of Gothic fiction was deliberately deleted or weakened so as to rewrite them into Chinese"Ai Qing(sentimental)fiction".In the 1980s and 1990s,publishing houses as"patrons"played a very important role.Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House published"Translation Collection of Western Gothic Classics",which marks the start of systematic translation of Gothic fiction in China.The translation of Gothic fiction reached its peak in the 21st century.In this period,the academic study of Gothic has been mature,and foreign literary history written by Chinese scholars has reaffirmed the aesthetic value and social value of Gothic novels.Many publishing houses have systematically compiled,prefaced and published British Gothic novels in this period,which means the Gothic translation entering a professional stage that attaches importance to both academic preciseness and publicity.