“Internal translation” of “poisonous” foreign literature in 1960-80s China – with special reference to<i> The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany </i>and<i> Nineteen Eighty-Four</i>

Its translation products, however, were leaked to a broader Chinese readership and allowed those unintended readers to see the abnormalities and repression prevailing in their own circumstances. This thesis explores the strategic, constructive role of Chinese translators and publishers in the officially organised “internal” translation, and illuminates the power of translation in provoking subversive readings within the PRC’s historical and sociopolitical context.

This thesis investigates the “internal” translations of two books by the same Chinese translator Dong Leshan (1924–1999), a victim of Mao’s rule: William L. Shirer’s <i>The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany</i> (1960) and George Orwell’s <i>Nineteen Eighty-Four </i>(1949), with the former being translated at the height of Maoism (1965) and the latter in the first post-Mao decade (1979/1985). Through contextualising the selection, translation, and publication of both works, this thesis elucidates how Chinese translation agents were able to leverage “internal” translation to implicitly resist the party-state’s authoritative control and influence Chinese readers.

By analysing these cases, this thesis also highlights the power of translation which transforms our understanding of ourselves in relation to the foreign Other.<br><br><i>Thesis is embargoed until 31 July 2031.</i>