On Cultural Translatability-A Study Based On Two English Versions Of Hong Lou Meng

With more and more cultural exchanges in the world, translation plays a moreimportant role than ever. In view of the close relations among culture, languageand translation, the author points out that in the age of globalization andinformation explosion, the study of cultural translatability will greatly promoteintercultural communication and mutual understanding among countries. Literatureis a very important carrier of cultural messages; therefore, this thesis mainly takesHong Lou Meng—the encyclopedia of ancient Chinese culture as the researchobject. Deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture, Hong Lou Meng and itsEnglish versions serve as persuasive examples for the case study on translatability.After a historical review of different views on translatability by translationscholars, this thesis first affirms the translatability of culture, which is also provedby the successful translation of many cultural factors in Hong Lou Meng. However,owing to the differences between cultures, cultural loss is inevitable in translation,that is to say, the translatability of culture is in fact a question of limit. The key liesin how to retain the SL cultural messages in the process of translating as much aspossible. Therefore, an in-depth study on the causes of cultural losses and seekingfor the corresponding compensation strategies will be of great theoretical andpractical significance. The two complete English versions of Hong Lou Meng arevery successful in dealing with the translation of cultural factors. The instructivethoughts and practical translation techniques of the translators not only provideuseful reference for us but also set us a good example for future culturaltranslation.Finally, the author points out that because of the cultural differences, theexistence of the limit of translatability is an objective reality. However, with thefurther intercultural communication and infiltration as well as the improvement oftranslators' bi-cultural competence and readers' accommodating ability towardsalien cultures, the limit of cultural translatability will be reduced and the degree oftranslatability is bound to be higher and higher. Especially in the current worldsituation, the introduction of our outstanding national culture to the world has greatsignificance.