Abstract:According to French philosopher Michel Foucault, power realizes its authority among its audience through discourse. Power can work both repressively and productively in discourse while discourse on the other way around affects power by forms like obedience, resistance and rebellion. As one type of discourse, translation is affected by the power of translator under contemporary social values. Meanwhile, it modifies readers’ knowledge and values, and therefore further impacts their behavior. Lin Shu, was a Chinese man of letters, who translated more than 180 western literature without first knowledge of any foreign languages. He composed his translations in classical Chinese when his collaborator interpreted for him. Lin’s translations were embodied with his artistic style and characteristics that gained him really controversial comments, high reputation as well as sharp critiques. Translated in an extremely miserable time of China, Heinuyutianlu was filled with Lin’s hope. This paper aims to explore the expressions of Foucault’s discourse theory in Lin Shu’ Heinuyutianlu. By providing a detailed explanation of discourse theory and brief introduction of the contemporary society as well as Lin Shu himself, the research proposes to study how the power of Lin Shu, more specifically his values, which was also influenced by the current society, worked in his translating process, resulting in unique features worth researching. 

Keywords: discourse, Lin Shu, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, translation studies

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

Chapter 1 Introduction-1

Chapter 2 Discourse Theory-2

2.1 Michel Foucault-2

2.2 Discourse Theory-3

Chapter 3 Lin Shu and Heinuyutianlu-5

3.1 General Bibliography of Lin Shu-5

3.2 Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Its Significance-5

3.3 Reasons for Translating Uncle Tom’s Cabin-6

Chapter 4 Discourse Theory in Heinuyutianlu-9

4.1 Discourse Theory in the Choice of Heinuyutianlu-9

4.2 Discourse in Translation-9

4.3 Significance of Lin Shu’s Heinuyutianlu-10

Chapter 5 Conclusions and Limitations-13

5.1 Conclusions-13

5.2 Limitations and Expectations-14

References-12

Acknowledgements-13