The visibility of Ida Pruitt as a woman translator: An archival approach to the English translation of Lao She’s Si Shi Tong Tang
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Woman translator.Archives.Visibility.Ida Pruitt.Lao She.The Yellow Storm.Drawing on Lawrence Venutiʼs concept of invisibility, this article focuses on the translator Ida Pruitt's visibility in the English translation of Lao She's Si Shi Tong Tang (literally, Four generations under one roof, 1949; shortened Eng.trans.The Yellow Storm, 1951) by combining textual and archival analyses.It demonstrates that Pruitt, in lieu of the author, negotiated her visibility with the publisher, editors, and literary agent in the editing process of her translation and in the design of its paratexts such as the title, cover, and map.She thus performed her visibility to English readers by retaining linguistic and cultural differences in her translation.This study expands research on translators' visibility by integrating processand product-oriented perspectives, opening up a new avenue for reconsidering the conventional notion of the double invisibility of women translators.
Source: World Literature Studies
Author: Jinquan Yu
Institution: Nanjing Normal University
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7223338509