Polysystemic Perspective on Li Wenjun's Translation of the Sound and the Fury

Abstract

Literary translation serves as a vital medium for cultural exchange and communication between Chinese and foreign cultures. Investigating literary translation phenomena not only facilitates the advancement of literary translation but also enhances the value of translation in cultural dissemination. This paper employs Even Zohar's Polysystem Theory to analyze the translation strategies in Li Wenjun’s Chinese version of William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. By examining the interplay of domestication and foreignization in the translated text, the research reveals that during the transformative period of China’s literary system in the 1980s, Li Wenjun adopted a dual approach: domestication to resolve narrative disruptions (supplementing temporal markers and paraphrasing religious metaphors) and foreignization to preserve text characteristics (literal translation of compound sentences and transliteration of personal and geographical names). Such strategic choices reflect the elasticity within China’s literary system at the time, torn between openness and conservatism. This study reveals the negotiated stance adopted by translators in the bi-cultural system, demonstrates the effectiveness of the multi-system theory in the interpretation of translation strategies and its boundaries, and provides a new dimension of diachronic observation for the study of classical literary re-translation.