Literature Review
Jonathan Swift and A Modest Proposal
A Modest Proposal is the most representative essay of Jonathan Swift, who is well known in China for his satirical novel “Gulliverrsquo;s Travels”. He is one of the greatest masters of English prose and master of satire. In Swiftrsquo;s lifetime, Ireland was mercilessly ruled by the English government which enforced prohibition laws upon Ireland on its exportation. Thus, its commerce were ruined and agriculture crippled. The working people of Ireland were oppressed and exploited by the English government and their landlords, and the streets were crowded with beggars. A large number of people were struggling with starvation while the rich “fine gentlemen” from England did nothing but indulging themselves with the luxuries exploited from the poor. Deeply astounded and enraged, Jonathan Swift wrote this famous prose. He imitated the uncaring attitude of the British landlords and referred to the poor people as “creatures”, “goods” or “commodities” and made this “proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland from being a burden to their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the public”. With the special power of satire and irony, he exposed the vice of the society, the cruelty and brutality of the rich and the authorities both at home and abroad, taking off their mask of hypocritical charity and presented a vivid picture of the misfortune and miseries of the poor.
Two Chinese versions of A Modest Proposal
There are several translated versions of this essay in China, among which Zhou Zuorenrsquo;s is the earliest. First published in 1923, Zhoursquo;s translation evidently bore the traces of the age he lived in. The translation was written in modern vernacular Chinese. Although some dictions Zhou chose could be considered slightly arcane in todayrsquo;s modern Chinese, the form of the language itself in general is the same as that we use today. In Liu Bingshanrsquo;s selection of British Essays On the Cries of London published in 2007, another translated version was presented to a new generation of readers. This version becomes the most-accepted version.
2.2.1 Zhou Zuorenrsquo;s view on translation
Zhou Zuoren (16 January 1885 – 6 May 1967) was a Chinese writer, primarily known as an essayist and a translator. Proficient in English, Greek and Japanese, Zhou had translated large volumes of works from foreign languages in his lifetime, most of which are literary works. He assigned weights to the key factors in translation and said 50% of translation is fidelity, 30% is clarity, and 20% elegance. In his postscript attached to his translation, he said he translated this essay with the purpose to meet his own emotional needs.
2.2.2 Liu Bingshanrsquo;s view on translation
Mr. Liu Bingshan was born in Zhengzhou, Henan province in 1927 and died in 2010. He taught in Henan University as an English professor and supervisor of Ph. D students. Later, he became the director of Henan Writerrsquo;s Union.
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