Comparison Of The Two English Versions Of Fu Sheng Liu Ji-Culture Perspective

In this thesis, the phenomenon of culture translation in literary works is examined with the two English versions of Fu Sheng Liu Ji as a case study. Outwardly, translation is the conversion of language signs, while internally it is the transfer of culture. Literary translation is a typical example of culture transfer. Most literary works originate from life and reflect life, and they usually contain rich culture content. Therefore, when translating literary works, translators have to deal with the culture information properly. Language difference and culture difference have to be taken into consideration in translation, and the key to successful translation depends on the appropriateness in coping with culture difference. In the cross-culture communication environment, translation is not purely regarded as the conversion of language signs but as the transfer of culture. In other words, translation means to transmit the culture information of the original into the target text as much as possible. Chinese classics usually contain rich culture information, and it is propitious to culture communication between China and the West whether the culture differences in Chinese classics (C-E) are well-done.The research is done under the guidance of culture perspective. One goal of this study is to point out that literary translation is not only a course of language transfer, but also an activity of culture transmission. The study also tries to assess the quality of the two versions based on the culture analysis of the two versions. Fu Sheng Liu Ji, an autobiography written by Shen Fu in the Qing dynasty, contains rich Chinese culture. Two English versions of Fu Sheng Liu Ji: Six Chapters Of A Floating Life, translated by Lin Yutang and published in 1930's; Chapters From A Floating Life, translated by Shirley. M. Black and published in 1960's, are compared from the perspective of culture. The purpose of comparison is to evaluate that who did a better job in culture translation, hence to explore the culture difference and translation mode in literary translation. The thesis narrows the research scopes advocated by Susan Bassnett and Andre Lefevere in cultural studies, and focuses on two main points: culture analysis of the original and translator's culture orientation. With the reference to the original, the thesis analyzes the gains and losses of the two versions in culture translation from culture analysis of the original and translator's orientation, and presents related method of culture translation. Inevitably, translators will come across culture problems in literary translation. Successful translation of the culture connotations of the original will directly determine the quality of the version. And translator's task is to keep the culture features of the original on condition that the alien cultures will not be misunderstood by target readers. By means of comparison, the author finds Black and Lin Yutang share some understandings about the original, and the author still finds that Black takes Lin Yutang's version as a reference in many aspects, especially in culture translation. Thus affirmative assessments are being made to Lin Yutang's version. Though the two translators share certain views on culture translation, differences still exist between the two versions, about which related culture analysis has been made in the thesis. In addition, the thesis makes researches on factors which have impact on literary translation, such as original culture, target culture, translator's culture orientation and so on, and explores the culture translation mode in Chinese-English classic translation.