Migration of Text and Shift of Identity: Self-Translation in the Bilingual Works of Lin Yutang, Eileen Chang, and Ha Jin

Abstract

This dissertation contends that self-translating authors, who translate their own works into other languages, serve as a locus through which to study the migrations and intersections of literature, language, culture, and identity. Driven by different Skopos, self-translators create a hybrid literature through migration of text, shifts of identity, and transference of culture. To support this hypothesis, I employ the Skopos theory to facilitate my study of historical contexts, language transfers, and employment of translation techniques of self-translations by three prominent authors from China: Lin Yutang (1895-1976), Eileen Chang (1920-1995), and Ha Jin (1956-). Studies of their literary works have been empirically well-grounded and painstakingly detailed. Yet the act of transplanting their texts into a new cultural, linguistic, and literary context has not been adequately addressed. My dissertation speaks to this significant omission. Three chapters will be taken up with the identification, explication, evaluation, and interpretation of self-translation strategies along with bilingual textual analysis of (1) Lin Yutang’s play, 子见南子/Confucius Saw Nancy, two bilingual essays, and the novel Between Tears and Laughter (1943)/啼笑皆非; (2) Eileen Chang’s three bilingual essays and the novel(la) Golden Cangue (1943)/金锁记; and (3) Ha Jin’s short story collection, A Good Fall (2009)/落地. I argue that self-translation works not as a secondary reproduction but rather as a production in its own right, which allows these authors to take more liberties with the texts as compared to regular translators. Self-translators also have more complicated Skopos to fulfill, such as shifts of identities, expansion of literary fame, recovery of a lost audience, and battles against political censorship.