Conformity and resistance

Abstract

The translation of red novels initiated by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) serves dual purposes: literary exchanges and overseas visibility. However, limited scholarly attention has been given to this topic due to the dismissal of red novels’ literary value and ideological sensitivities. This article examines four representative red novels through both quantitative and qualitative analyses to reassess the translation strategies employed. It also explores the underlying reasons for these choices within the framework of Lefevere’s rewriting theory. Challenging the view that these translations primarily employ foreignization, it argues that translators employ a nuanced fusion of domestication and foreignization to balance reader acceptance and political messaging. The domestication strategy seeks to align the translations with the target language’s poetics to engage readers, while the foreignization strategy aims to convey Chinese discourse and imagery. This article illuminates the intricate interplay between poetics and ideology in literary translation.