Since the second half of 18th century, plenty of foreign literature works have flooded into our country, and a large number of excellent translators emerged at that time who introduced us the so-called “world masterpieces”. As is known to all, in the long history of translation studies, translators have experienced a process from being overshadowed by authors and original texts to being attached importance to or being encouraged to play their part in translation.

However, literary translation is a re-creation of literature and art, which has become a highly active research field in today's society. The translator, as the first reader of literary translation and the reproducer of literary creation, plays an important role in the process of literary translation, and his complex identity and role in literary translation are also worthy of further analysis and discussion. The process of translation is actually a process of choices and decision. No translator is free from certain cultural background, and the culture of the society in which he is in has been branded on the translator's brain. Therefore, the recognition and a systematic study of the social and cultural factors that influence the translator's choices in the process of translation is significant for bringing to light the regularities of translation process as well as for the enrichment of translation studies.The essay is a tentative attempt on this aspect from the viewpoint of cultural translation. In this paper, the author tries to identify such factors and to make a convincing description of them, and tries to illustrate in what way these factors determine and limit the choices the translator makes in the course of translation.As literary translation involves so many aspects, this paper aims to probe into the translation of Two Chinese Versions of Walden.

The case of the study in this paper, Walden, first published as Walden; or, Life in the Woods, is a book by noted transcendentalism Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and--to some degree--a manual for self-reliance. In addition, there have been already many Chinese versions of this great novel. Thus, there are enough materials for the comparative study on the translation of Walden. Consequently, Walden was chosen to be the study object of this paper. Here the author chooses two representatives translations of Walden. One is translated by Xu Chi, the other is translated by Jihong Li. Xu Chi, a Chinese poet ,essayist and "Father of Reportage", is also a prolific translator. In a time of cultural collision and ideological innovation of the Chinese society from the 1930s to the 1980s, Xu Chi had not only produced a large volume of literary creations but also translated many foreign literary works into Chinese. Li Jihong, born in 1980, is a Chinese poet, literary translator and critic. He is known for his literary translations, which includes the Chinese editions of The Kite Runner, Conversations with God, A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Fall of Public Man and many others. He also translated Walden in 2013. Since these two people’s living age is quite different that is to say, the social and cultural background between them is quite different, it can reflect the topic of this thesis. Currently, many researchers have research the translations methods like domestication and foreignization, not many researchers combine the study of translation with translator’s social and cultural background at home and abroad.

This paper aims at making its own contribution to the Chinese translation of English literature masterpieces. As an old saying goes: There are not two identical leaves in the world. To be more specific, people who live in different ages also have different ideas which may have an effect on their works. Through the study on the influence of translators’ social and cultural background on literary translation, the author hopes to help the Chinese learners when they read or study the Chinese versions of English literature.

2. 研究的基本内容与方案

This paper will make some comparative study on the translation of the two Chinese versions of Walden. After the exploration, the readers are bound to understand the impact that translators have on literary translation in a deeper sense.

It will adopt the methods combining empirical description with theory analysis. The methods mainly includes the following four aspects: first of all, the author will research and analyze the literature, carefully read, study, and analyze the domestic and foreign literature related to translation theories to firmly grasp the translation theory study development trend of the mainstream. Secondly, the author will introduce the booming of cultural studies, and introduces cultural shift一one of the new trends in the field of translation studies. Thirdly, the author will research and analyze the translator mentioned above, then carefully read their translations of Walden. Thus, finding the different words or phrases that they used in the book. Consequently, researching the relationship between the translator’s social and cultural background and literary translation. Finally, the author will draws a conclusion that our translation is much influenced by the translator’s social and cultural background.

[1] Hermans, T. The Translator’s Voice in Translated Narrative. Target . 1996

[2] Susan Bassnett, Andre Lefevere. Constructing Culture: Essays on Literary Translation. 2001

[3]Thoreau, H.D. Walden;or,Life in the Woods[M]. Shanghai: Shanghai World Publishing Cooperation, 2013

[4]Newmark, P. Appropriates to Translation[M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2001.