Representation and Reception of the Female Images in the English Version of Stories of the Sahara

Abstract

San Mao (English pen name Echo), a famous wandering female writer from Taiwan, China, has influenced the growth of several generations of Chinese people, especially Chinese women, with her works and life experiences. Taking the English version of San Mao’s most famous work, Stories of the Sahara, as an example, this paper analyzes the English version, especially the translator Mike Fu's representation of San Mao's female image. The article holds that San Mao, as a narrator, bystander and witness of Saharan life, has a rich personal image, which is influenced by both eastern culture and western culture. Translator Mike Fu insists on "faithfulness" and has androgynous translation consciousness, which successfully reproduces the image of San Mao. Through the foreign translation platforms of China literature, such as Paper-Republic, and the promotion of foreign mainstream medias, the English version has gained more readers and comments, and San Mao has formed an irreplaceable female image through the understanding of different readers.