ABSTRACT
This chapter aims at providing a comparative analysis of The Four Books, in its translation into five different European languages: English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. All the books used for this study are direct translations from the Chinese original and they provide insights into how translators have been dealing with the different levels of a literary translation. A comparison of the strategies used by the respective translators will be made in order to examine the extent of adjustments adopted to produce an equivalent of the original text in its target language, and thus illustrate how Yan Lianke's novel translated into European languages relates to his original literary writing. Rather than conducting an assessment, this chapter will examine what type of text non-Chinese readers of these languages have at their disposal and to what extent the literary richness of the original Chinese text can be perceived when reading The Four Books in translation. To that end, it is also essential to make an analysis of the original Chinese book and to know in depth the different literary features and levels displayed throughout the novel.
