Title: Reader Awareness as Viewed from the Writing and Translation of The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo

Abstract: This essay makes a comparative study of the English work The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo written by Lin Yutang and its two Chinese versions by two Taiwanese scholars, Zhang Zhenyu and Song Biyuny. The topics addressed include such issues as the translation of Chinese cultural customs and practices, ways of narration, and uses of paratexts in an attempt to find out how reader awareness affects the writer in the course of his writing, and how it is reflected in the two Chinese versions. The goal is to provide insight into how Chinese literature is translated for the outside world.

Keywords: The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo, Lin Yutang, reader awareness, textless back translation

Authors: Xuemei Luan, Associate Professor, College of Foreign Languages, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shangdong, China; Jianhua Bian, Professor, School of Foreign Languages, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shangdong, China.