Translating Political Allusions in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park

Abstract

Historically, in China, Jane Austen's works have been long undervalued due to perceptions of limited political relevance. Despite a wide recognition in Anglophone scholarship of their political commentary and social critique, this acknowledgment remains limited within Chinese contexts. This study focuses on Mansfield Park, a work known for its heightened political awareness. By integrating House’s TQA framework with diachronic comparative analysis, this study stands as a pioneering effort to assess how Austen’s political allusions in the novel have been translated and perceived within Chinese contexts over an extended period of time across different points in Chinese history. Originally published in 1814, Mansfield Park was the last of Austen’s novels to be introduced into China, with its first translation published in 1984. To carry out this research, we have compiled a diachronic translation corpus of Mansfield Park, encompassing all available Chinese renditions from 1984 onwards. Through an exploration of three facets of political themes —luxury, imperialism, and colonialism—this study uncovers translation challenges, choices, and strategies adopted by different translators over time, as well as recurring weaknesses. It reveals a chronological progression in translating political allusions, particularly reflected in evolving footnotes, which indicates a growing commitment to contextual accuracy. Chinese translators display a preference for overt translation strategies when addressing historical events or figures, while covert translations prevail for allusions with French connotations like “menus plaisirs”. This research emphasizes how translators have endeavoured to bridge the temporal and cultural divide between Regency England and modern China, shedding light on how Austen's political nuances are reimagined for new audiences over time.