A Study on the Reimagining of Xiangzi’s Character in <i>Rickshaw: The Novel Lo-t’o Hsiang Tzu</i> Based on a Chinese-English Parallel Corpus

With the increasing international dissemination of Chinese literary works, research on the cross-cultural reconstruction of literary images has gained significant importance. Lao She’s Luo Tuo Xiangzi, as a classic of modern Chinese literature, exemplifies the phenomenon of image reconstruction during the process of English translation. This study, based on the Chinese-English parallel corpus of Luo Tuo Xiangzi, employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to systematically examine the differences in Xiangzi’s portrayal between the original text and Jean M. James’s English translation, focusing on five dimensions: appearance, language, actions, psychology, and objective depictions. The findings reveal that Xiangzi in the original text exhibits prominent negative traits, undergoing a distinct transformation from hope to downfall, while in the English translation, his character becomes more nuanced, with enhanced positive aspects and a relative downplaying of negative traits. This reconstruction of the character is primarily influenced by cultural differences, translation strategies, narrative purposes, and target audience considerations. The study demonstrates that the cross-cultural transmission of literary images requires a balance between fidelity to the source text and adaptation to the target culture. This research holds theoretical and practical significance for understanding the mechanisms of image representation in literary translation, cultural adaptability, and the selection of translation strategies.