The Misreading of the Confucian Cultural Context in Translation of the "Great Preface" by Stephen Owen.

The translation of the "Great Preface" by Stephen Owen makes flexible use of inventive techniques of translation and interprets Chinese literary thoughts from the point of view of the other. The Confucian literary thoughts and Confucian culture in the earlier Han dynasty are neglected in Stephen Owen's version without analyzing the historical background and cultural features of the "Great Preface". Actually, Maos' Preface purposefully lays more stress on the instructional function of poetry rather than on opinions on poetry to beautify the customs and consolidate the political rule. In such a historical context, the Great Preface echoes the peal of history and tradition while extending the vein of literary view on the classics. By taking Confucian cultural model as ordinate, the neglected or distorted cultural context in Stephen Owen's version of the Great Preface just highlights the characteristics of Confucian poetics. The reason why cultural distortion in Stephen Owen's version of the Great Preface is he deviates from the historical and cultural context of the text in essence. In this paper, it is found that the neglected cultural context in Stephen Owen's version also highlights the differences between American and Chinese literary thoughts and culture. Perhaps this cross- linguistic communication and comparison will open our macro view on Chinese history and ancient literary theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]