A Sociological Studyon Mo Yan’s Translated Works

Shi Zhuanzhuan

（Rongzhi College Chongqing Technology and Business University，Chongqing 400033）

Ⅰ.The core concepts of Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of sociology and translation

Pierre Bourdieu was one of the most influential French sociologists after Emile Durkheim.He，Anthony Giddens in Britain and Jurgen Habermas in Germany are known as“the three most outstanding scholars”in European sociology academia.Bourdieu’s sociological theory abandoned the binary opposition between subjectivism and objectivism，society and individuals and advocated constructivist structuralism，which claims on one hand，individuals are involved in the construction of social and cultural phenomenon with specific thoughts，actions and abilities，and on the other hand，the social activities of individuals are restricted by some fixed objective factors.The three core concepts of his sociology theory are field，capital and habitus.Field refers to “a network，or a configuration，of objective relations between positions.〔1〕Capital is“the social goods that become associated with material or symbolic wealth and power in a given period”.〔2〕There are four kinds of capital，social capital，economic capital，cultural capital and symbolic capital.Habitus refers to “systems of durable，transposable dispositions，structured structures predisposed to function as structuring structures，that is，as principles which generate and organize practices and representations that can be objectively adapted to their outcomes without presupposing a conscious aiming at ends or an express mastery of the operations necessary in order to attain them.”〔3〕Bourdieu explained the three concepts and put forward the analysis model of his theory：（（habitus）（capital））＋field=practice.If applied in translation，it becomes“the translator with habitus （composed of a series of dispositions）and capital fights in the field of power，thus forming the translation field.”〔4〕

Ⅱ.The translation and dissemination of Mo Yan’s literary works

Mo Yan is one of the most prolific contemporary novelists in China，with more than 110 literary works of different kinds，among which 11 are novels，25 novelettes and more than70 stories and novella.A great number of these works had been translated into English，Japanese，French，Spanish，and Germany and so on.Many of these translations won international awards.In 2001，Jiu Guo（The Republic of Wine）（French version）won the French “Laure Bataillin”Foreign Literature Award.In 2004，Mo Yan was conferred the Knight Medal for French art and literature（Ordre des Arts et des Lettres）；In 2005，Hong Gao Liang Jia Zu （Red Sorghum）won Italian “Nonino”International Prize；In 2006，Sheng Si Pi Lao （Life and Death are Wearing Me Out）won the 17th Fukuoka Asian Culture Award；In 2008，Mo Yan won the first Newman prize for Chinese Literature.In 2012，Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize for Literature.These awards not only prove that Mo Yan’s literary works enjoyed high reputation and status in the world but also show the success of their translation.After Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize for Literature，American Amazon online bookstore immediately launched the personal page for Mo Yan’s works.In Japan，Mo Yan’s works were dubbed“Nobel prize winner’s works”.In literature circle，Mo Yan is considered by European publishers as the Chinese star writer who has the biggest potential to rank the top ten on the New York Times bestseller list.

Ⅲ.A sociological analysis of the dissemination of Mo Yan’s translated works— a case study of the dissemination of Wa and its English version Frog in America

1.Mo Yan and Wa

Mo Yan spent a couple of years to create Wa — his 11th novel.It was published by Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House in December of 2009.It was regarded as another masterpiece among contemporary Chinese novels.The novel depicts the 60-year birth control in rural areas in China.By telling the story of“Gugu”（Aunt），an obstetrician for more than fifty years，the writer successfully created a vivid，touching image who was dedicated to her career and presented readers the long and difficult process during which Chinese government carried out the birth control policy in order to prevent the rapid increase of population.The writer also displays the humble，tangled，contradicted spiritual world of some intellectuals at that time like the narrator“Ke Dou”（Tadpole）.The narrative style of Wa is novel and meticulous.It is composed of five letters written by Ke Dou to a Japanese writer named Sugitani，four of which are long narrations of Gugu and Ke Dou while the last letter is a drama.The novel combines meta-fiction with drama skillfully and broadens the space for art performance.It can be seen as another significant artistic attempt for Mo Yan.Once published，Wa became of great popularity in China and won the 8th Mao Dun Literature Award in 2011.

2.Howard Goldblatt and Frog

As the major English translator of Mo Yan’s literary works，Howard Goldblatt，a famous American sinologist，spent almost two years to finish the translation of the book.In October 2014，the English version of Wa-Frog translated by Howard Goldblatt was first published in Australia.In November，Hamish Hamilton under Penguin Group published the same version in U.K.In January of 2015，Frog （USA Edition）was issued by Viking under Penguin Random Group in USA.

3.The dissemination of Frogin the United States

The major media critics spoke highly of Mo Yan，Howard Goldblatt and Frog.Among them，the one from Steven Moore of The Washington Post is typical：“Only recently has China relaxed its one-child policy somewhat，and Frogis both an invaluable record of that social experiment and another display of Mo Yan’s attractively daring approach to fiction.The Nobel committee chose wisely.”〔5〕The wide popularity of Frogamong ordinary people can be seen between the more than 150 comments on the book on Goodreads.As for the assessment score，Froggot 3.61/5，lower than Life and Death are Wearing Me Out （3.91/5），but almost the same as Big Breasts and Wide Hips （3.67/5）.There is still room for its growth since it is a newly published book.“In general，the responses of Frogin the western world are unprecedented.”〔6〕And its translation and dissemination has achieved great success.

4.A sociological analysis of the successful dissemination of Frog in A-merica

（1）Field for the dissemination of Frogin America

For most Americans，literary works are the most accessible way to fulfill their desire，so they become more willing to read the translated books than never before in the history.Howard Goldblatt once said：“There are three types of Chinese literary works Americans like most，the first type is about sex；the sec-ond is about politics，and the third is detective stories.”〔7〕Frogis more about politics in this sense.The promotion from the American and Chinese power and economic field，is the first prerequisite for the dissemination of Frog in the United States.The publishing house also contributes to the success of Frog.Frog was published by one of the most famous and popular English book publishers—the Penguin Group.In August of 2014，Helen Zhou，the general manager of North Asia area of Penguin Group won“the Chinese Special Contribution Award”for her contribution to promoting Chinese literature and culture.She said：“What I am always trying to do is to present western readers a real China”.〔8〕Besides，the Nobel Prize and the compliments and affirmation from literature and translation critics and book reviewers are of great help for the successful dissemination of Frog.The combined effects of the field of power，economy，literature，and translation have contributed to the success of Frog.

（2）Capital for the dissemination of Frog in America

Mo Yan，the writer of the original text— Wa，is one of the most famous Chinese contemporary novelists.He received an honorary doctor’s degree in The Open University of Hong Kong in2008.In the mid1980s，he became prestigious because of the complex nostalgia and resentment in his works and was classified as“root seeking literature”writer.His works were mostly influenced by magic realism and also showed“pioneer”color by structuring the world with unique subjective feeling，narrating with a powerful and unconstrained style，processing words with estrangement and shaping the world with mysterious transcendental object.Different from the Chinese writers at his time，Mo Yan’works seemed to be more attractive to both the Chinese and western readers.His early book Hong Gao Liang Jia Zu and its English version Red Sorghumhad become very popular around the world decades ago.In1987，director Zhang Yimou，adapted the novel to its namesake movie which won the“Golden Bear Award”on the 1988 Berlin International Film Festival.In June of 2000，the American magazine World Literature Today published a great number of articles that introduced Mo Yan’s works，such as Mo Yan through Western Eyes by M.Thomas Inge and From Fatherland to Motherland：on Mo Yan’s Red Sorghum ＆ Big Breasts and Wide Hips by Shelly W.Chan，which marked the globalization of Mo Yan’s literary works.In 2006，the publication of Life and Death are Wearing Me Out brought many influential international awards.This marked the peak of Mo Yan’s translated works in the western world.And all of these can be regarded as the author’s symbolic capital，which laid a solid foundation for the success of Frog.

Besides，the English translator of Frog — Howard Goldblatt also brought great capital.He was born in 1939 and began to learn Chinese in Taiwan in 1960s.He got his Ph.D.in Chinese literature at Indiana University and was the most influential Chinese literary translator around the world.By the end of 2015，Howard Goldblatt had successfully translated more than 50 Chi-nese works from more than 20 famous Chinese writers，including Jiang Rong’s Lang Tu Teng （Wolf Totem），Xiao Hong’s Hulan He Zhuan （Tales of Hulan River）and so on.American novelist John Updike compared him to“midwife”of Chinese contemporary and modern literature in western countries.Goldblatt’s translation is impressive and ardent and many of his translated books are claimed“even better than the original”.Because of his great contribution in translating Chinese literature and spreading Chinese culture，Professor Xia Zhiqing praised him as“the chief translator for Chinese contemporary and modern literature”.In June 3，2011，on the commemoration anniversary of Xiao Hong’s 100th birthday，his Hsaio Hung （Xiao Hong Zhuan）won the Xiao Hong Literature Award.In addition，Howard Goldblatt is also a famous American literary and translation critic.Most of his articles are published in some famous journals and magazines，such as Rendition，World Literature，The Washington Post，etc.Howard Goldblatt’s social，cultural and symbolic capital is an indispensable factor for the success of Frog.

（3）Habitus of the translator and the dissemination of Frogin America

Howard Goldblatt follows two principles when choosing literary works to translate：（a）The original text should be to his taste and suitable for him to translate because translating a bad one is a waste instead of a mistake or sin；（b）The literary works on his translation list should cater to the readers’interest and likely to be sold well in the target market.This explains why Howard chose Wa as his translation priority after Mo Yan won the Nobel prize：the unconventional narrative style，the distinctive characters and the unique aesthetic appeal attract him while the epic reflections of social changes and the understanding of China’s birth control policy beyond binary opposition are easy to draw Americans’attention.In terms of translation strategies，Howard Goldblatt’s habitus points to domestication and rewriting，which cover the Chinese literature with contemporary American literature color but make the translated works more possible to be accepted by American readers.One successful example is that he persuaded Mo Yan to change the end of Song of Garlic Stalks in Tiantang County（Tian Tang Suan Tai Zhi Ge）when it was published in the Unites States.However，necessary domestication or rewriting doesn’t mean the total abandonment of fidelity and foreignization.Examples can be easily found in the translation of Wa，among which a typical one is his handling of people’s name：

Original：先生，我们那地方，曾有一个古老的风气，生下孩子，好以身体部分和人体器官命名。譬如陈鼻、赵眼……那些曾以人体器官或身体部位命名的孩子，也都大都改成雅名，当然也有没改的，譬如陈耳，譬如陈眉。〔9〕

Translation：Sensei，an old custom in my hometown dictated that a newborn child is given the name of a body part or organ.Nose Chen，for instance，Eyes Zhao … Most of those who were named the earlier way have adopted more conventional names，most but not all.We still have Chen Er（Ears）and Chen Mei（Brow）.〔10〕

Then we may draw the conclusion that the translation habitus of Howard Goldblatt is that he is trying his best to maintain the flavor and taste of the original text and culture based on the readers’interest.

Ⅳ.Conclusion

The favorable Chinese and American political，economic，cultural，literary，translation field，the great capitals of Mo Yan，Waitself and its translator Howard Goldblatt as well as his translation habitus contribute to the widespread and popularity of Frogamong the American readers.When doing translation，all these sociological factors should be taken into account in order to promote the globalization and internationalization of Chinese contemporary and modern literature in real sense.It is advisable to consider what kind of books should be translated and the best time to translate it.Readers’interests can never be neglected since a book without readers from the very beginning is doomed to be a failure.Literary works that enjoy high social and cultural capitals，along with the writer and the translator who occupies high position in both the source and target language countries are definitely conducive to the dissemination of the translated works.As for the C-E translation，the sinologists would be the ideal translators because they are skilled in both Chinese and English，familiar with the history and current situation of China，know clearly about the western readers’interests and habits，and are possibly better at communicating with the international publishing houses，western news media and academia.〔11〕Finally，the habitus of a translator plays a vital role because it decides whether the translated works would be accepted by the target readers.

〔1〕Bourdieu，Pierre ＆ Loi’c J.D.，Wacquant，An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology，Chicago：University of Chicago Press，1992，p.97.

〔2〕Inghilleri，Moira，Mediating Zones of Uncertainty：Interpreter Agency，the Interpreting Habitus and Political Asylum Adjudication，The Translator，2005（1），pp.69-85.

〔3〕Richard，Nice，The Logic of Practice，Translated from French by Bourdieu，Cambridge：Polity Press，1990，p.53.

〔4〕邵璐：《翻译社会学的迷思—布迪厄场域理论释解》，《暨南学报（哲学社会科学版）》2011年第3期，第124-130页。

〔5〕Steven Moore，Book review：“Frog”by Mo Yan，The Washington Post，2015-3-23.

〔6〕李同路：《英美读书界如何评价〈蛙〉英文版》，《文学报》2015年5月7日。

〔7〕季进：《我译故我在—葛浩文访谈录》，《当代作家评论》2009年第6期，第45-56页。

〔8〕肖家鑫：《中华图书特殊贡献奖得主周海伦：向西方呈现真实的中国》，《人民日报》2014年8月27日。

〔9〕莫言：《蛙》，上海：上海文艺出版社，2012年，第5页。

〔10〕Goldblatt，Howard，Frog，Translated from the original Chinese Waby Mo Yan，Penguin Group（Australia）＆Beijing：Penguin（Beijing）Ltd，2014，p.5.

〔11〕胡安江：《中国文学“走出去”之译者模式及翻译策略研究—以美国汉学家葛浩文为例》，《中国翻译》2010年第6期，第11-16页。