Revisiting Bowdlerization in Herbert Giles’ Translation of Liaozhai Zhiyi: A Critical Dialogue

Herbert A.Giles’ bowdlerization in his English translation of Liaozhai Zhiyi is a much-discussed topic which has yielded a variety of interpretations, analyses and criticisms.This paper first revisits three representative views which attribute Giles’ bowdlerization respectively to his insistence on chastity of the Chinese literature, his taking children as the target reader, and the Victorian social and cultural context, before pointing out their inaccuracy, partiality, or inadequacy.Within the framework of Hippolyte Taine’s art philosophy, this paper expands the comparative and descriptive studies from synchronic and diachronic dimensions and explores Giles’ bowdlerization by discussing Giles’ translation activities, Victorian translation and publishing conventions, and the diachronic change of sexuality in English literature.Giles’ bowdlerization is a natural, inevitable choice for its publication and reception in the 19^th century Britain.