Power Discourse Theory And Its Influence On The Choice Of Domestication And Foreignization Strategies

The two strategies "domestication" and "foreignization" in translation, which have involved the transference of culture, have been discussed widely at home and abroad. The former refers to the translation strategy, in which an eligible, fluent style is adopted in order to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text in the mind of the target language reader, while the latter designates the type of translation, in which a target text deliberately breaks the target language conventions by retaining something foreign of the original.Translation strategy is not chosen arbitrarily and it must follow some rules, and the Power Discourse Theory suggests one of them. Power Discourse Theory is advocated by Michel Foucault, the French post-structuralist philosopher. Foucault investigated "power" and "discourse" jointly, deeming that both the social system and power mechanism have remarkable influence on the discourse practice. According to him, free, independent human studies do not actually exist. The numerous human studies tend to surrender to the power, and translation is no exception. Power Discourse Theory brings a revolution to translation studies by revealing the manipulation of power mechanisms on translation. It reveals the social character of translation studies.To reach the point, two English versions of Lao She's masterpiece Luotuo Xiangzi are chosen for comparative study. Luotuo Xiangzi is Lao She's first important novel, which has received great popularity at home and abroad. Although Lao She is a humorist, his Luotuo Xiangzi is a real tragedy. The author doesn't show humor deliberately but just depicts the true appearance of life. This tragic story reminds us of the frightful darkness before 1949 and at the same time mirrors how it smashed people's dream and hope. The individual struggle of Xiangzi has aroused strong sympathy on the part of the readers owing to the fine qualities of the protagonist who stays at the low social status. The two chosen English versions, one is Rickshaw Boy translated by the American translator Evan King in 1945, and the other is Camel Xiangzi by the Chinese translator Shi Xiaojing in 1981. These two were created in different times and historical background, thus the translators tried opposite translation strategies at linguistic and cultural levels.This thesis discusses the cultural and linguistic aspects of domestication and foreignization grounded on Power Discourse Theory, trying to find out their deep relations and the way the latter influences and manipulates the former. Comparison of two English translations of Luotuo Xiangzi is done to further analyze their translation strategies from cultural and linguistic perspectives respectively. Furthermore, the choice of translation strategies is discussed in the light of Power Discourse Theory with the focus on the difference in time, society and culture. It is hoped that this may bring fresh air to the research of translation of Lao She's works as well as translation strategies.