A Comparative Study On Two English Versions Of Shen Congwen’s ‘Biancheng’ From The Perspective Of Ecofeminism

The struggle to create a life-affirming society intensifies as globalization expands, which can be seen from the 1970s, women all over the world were formulating ecological feminist response to environmental influence of “modernization” through the intersection between gender, feminism and environmental issues. Ecofeminism is at the intersection of women’s rights, environmental issues and the various forms of oppression, such as those affecting marginalized and colonial people, as well as the Third World nations by the Western industrialized countries. One of the major propositions of ecofeminism is to build a harmonious planet and to abolish sexism and patriarchy, rather than subject to dominance of men and hierarchy. It, therefore, advocates to deconstruct the patriarchal perspective and reconstruct a community based on ecology and feminism, in a way to cease the exploitation of nature and promote the liberation of women. “Biancheng” is a representative work of renowned modern Chinese writer, Mr. Shen Congwen, who adhered to his contemplation on humanity’s existence and tried to communicate the essence of honoring nature and life. He transformed “Biancheng” from a conventional geographical term into a profound exploration of the intrinsic significance of human existence and spirit, with a particular emphasis on a woman’s existence and her connection with nature. Such focus led me to approach “Biancheng” through the lens of ecofeminism. In light of the ecofeminism theory, this paper selects the two prominent English translations of Biancheng by renowned translators Gladys Yang and American sinologist Jeffrey C. Kinkley for a comparative analysis. It is divided into five parts: the first deals with delineating the main ecofeminist theories, the second probes into the previous researches on ecofeminism and translated versions of Biancheng, the third refers to the work analysis, the fourth parts explores how ecofeminism is translated and demonstrated in the two versions through comparative analysis and the last part comes to a conclusion.