Agents and Networks in the Translation of Taiwanese Literature

Abstract

This thesis firstly investigates how a network of translation agents is formed and operates when translating and exporting contemporary Taiwanese literature to the West, in particular to the USA. The study then examine the translations, not only against their source texts, but also against the formation of such a network so as to identify how the target texts including paratexts are shaped by the mediation of the actors and the agency structure in relation to their ideology, translation objectives and translatorial habitus. This research identifies and compares the agency of two translation networks and their agents: the translator-led network and the subvention network. The study of paratexts and extratexts not only recognizes the mediation of the translation agents, their individual power and translation beliefs, but also maps out the network formation process, agency structure and their influence on the translation production. Meanwhile, the translation analysis including paratexts against not only the source text, but also the formation of the networks, gives an insight into the key role of the agent’s translatorial ideology and translation objectives in shaping the final presentation of translations, and moreover the importance of the assumed readership or the target culture expectations in influencing the agent’s understanding and mediation of translation. The outcome of this thesis firstly indicates how the recent interest in the emerging sociological approach, and that of Bourdieu’s and Latour’s frameworks in particular, can make conceptual contributions to translation studies and research in its own right and allow the researcher to move further in the development of a more agent- and process-oriented type of research. The study also highlights those issues which may contribute to more effective promotion and exportation of translated foreign literature from lesser-known cultures.