A Discussion on Lin Shu’s The Lady of the Camellias and Its Reinterpretation of Western Literature

Abstract

In the mid-to-late 19th century, with the colonial expansion of imperial countries, capitalist culture and literature had a vital impact on Late Qing Society. The book The Lady of the Camellias translated by Lin Shu in 1899 was deeply influenced by the transition between old and new cultures. It not only revealed how Lin Shu thought about western literature, but also illustrated how economy and politics played a significant role in the development of Chinese traditional literature. This paper aims to analyse the changes in characterization and core conflict through the comparison between Lin Shu’s translation and Alexandre Dumas’s book La Dame aux Camélias. In the process of analysis, the author implements several results and demonstrates reasons and influences of the translation such as the effect of social environment and Lin Shu’s choice. Additionally, the author detects the integration of Chinese and Western culture and compares the textual content of La Dame aux Camélias with Chinese translation.