The translation of Late Qing (c.1839-1912) Chinese literature in the Anglophone world

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dc.check.chapterOfThesisAppendix 5, Appendix 7, Appendix 8.en
dc.check.infoPartial Restriction
dc.contributor.advisorSchneider, Julia
dc.contributor.advisorBuffery, Helena
dc.contributor.advisorGuo, Yanyu
dc.contributor.authorLiu, Shuaien
dc.date.accessioned2026-09-30T09:13:25Z
dc.date.available2026-09-30T09:13:25Z
dc.date.issued2025-12-31
dc.date.submitted2025-12-31
dc.descriptionPartial Restriction
dc.description.abstractThis thesis investigates the translation of Late Qing (1839-1912) Chinese literature into English across the twentieth century, contributing to a broader understanding of the history of translation of Chinese literature into the Anglophone world. Bridging the analysis and understanding of Chinese history, literature, cultural studies and translation studies, it offers key insights into historical interactions between China and the Anglophone West, that enable better contextualization of the ways these have been shaped and influenced by cultural, political and ideological factors. Using a purpose-built digital database of translations, the project reconstructs what was translated, when, where, by whom and for what purpose. Based on the dataset, it is observed that the translation activities were relatively intensive across two key periods of the twentieth century: the early Cold War (1950s-1960s), and the final decade of the twentieth century (1990s-early 2000s). Three editorial projects emerged as particularly influential: John K. Fairbank (1907-1991) and Ssu-yu Teng’s 鄧嗣禹 (1906-1988) 1954 volume China’s Response to the West, William Theodore de Bary (1919-2017) et al’s Sources of Chinese Tradition (1960 and 1999), and the Hong Kong based journal Renditions (1973-2024). Alongside extensive contextual, macro-textual and paratextual analysis of these three projects, my thesis delves into five case studies, including fiction and non-fiction, which are examined through micro-textual analysis, attending to a range of translational parameters. Particular attention is given to patterns of text-selection, preferred themes, the agency of the translators, editors and other textual mediators, and patronage, all of which illuminate evolving constructions of the image of China in different historical moments. The thesis also considers retranslation as a site of ideological and poetic shifts, exploring how approaches to rendering Chinese linguistic and cultural information changed over time. Guided by Gideon Toury’s Descriptive Translation Studies and Anthony Pym’s translation-history framework, the study provides a systematic account of the approaches to translating Late Qing literature. It demonstrates how literary, cultural, and political ideologies shaped both the translation of Late Qing writing and the broader dynamics of cultural exchange. In doing so, it advances our understanding of Chinese-to-English translation history and offers new insights into how images of China have been mediated and remodelled through translation across the twentieth century.en
dc.description.statusNot peer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationLiu, S. 2025. The translation of Late Qing (c.1839-1912) Chinese literature in the Anglophone world. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.
dc.identifier.endpage301
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/19372
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherUniversity College Corken
dc.rights© 2025, Shuai Liu.
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.subjectTranslation studies
dc.subjectLate Qing
dc.subjectChinese literature
dc.titleThe translation of Late Qing (c.1839-1912) Chinese literature in the Anglophone world
dc.typeDoctoral thesisen
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoralen
dc.type.qualificationnamePhD - Doctor of Philosophyen
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