A Tentative Analysis of LinShu’s “beyond equivalence”inliterary translation

Lin Shu is one of China's most influential translators. He initiated modem literary translation in China, and his translations imported new ideas, literary concepts, styles and techniques from the West. These, in turn, influenced the emergence and development of modern Chinese literature. Nevertheless, Lin Shu and his translations have been belittled and even dismissed for various reasons over the years. The emergence and development of target/culture-oriented translation theories offer the possibility of re-assessing Lin Shu and his translations. This thesis concentrates on Lin Shu's translation strategy beyond the equivalence, termed"Poetic Equivalence", namely Liu Shu's adaptation of the original. It includes adaptation, omission, addition, alteration and abridgment, which is often regarded as untruthful to the original and is thus often criticized. In fact, the translation strategy of Lin Shu was mostly based on his attention to the needs of the Chinese culture and the acceptability by the Chinese readers.