A Comparative Analysis Of The Culture-Specific Terms In Two Major Translations Of Lv Shi Chun Qiu Under Postcolonial Translation Theory

This thesis adopts postcolonial translation theory as theoretical framework to compare and analyze the two translation strategies:domestication and foreignization in the two translations of Lv Shi Chu Qiu (The Annals of Lv Buwei) by different translators. According to postcolonial translation theory, culture becomes the core of translation; and cultural translation is closely related to power, politics, history and ideology, etc. Under the postcolonial context, translation is both a way to get rid of cultural hegemony and to introduce and enrich culture. At the same time, the cultural turn takes the translation away from purely linguistic analysis, and provides a new scope related to other relevant studies for translation. So translation of the third world countries should take the new scope to eliminate the influence of the powerful countries on their language and culture, and then make their cultures return to the proper position.Traditional translation is closely related to linguistic analysis. It is treated as linguistic transformation; the function of translation is to convert one language into another while the function of culture is put at the second. Under the influence of postcolonial translation theory, cultural communication becomes prominent. Based on this influence, to struggle against the cultural hegemony and put the culture of the third world countries into the right position becomes the task of translators.This thesis takes two translations of Lv Shi Chu Qiu (The Annals of Lv Buwei) as source texts to analyze the use of domestication and foreignization in translation of ancient Chinese classics, which can represent traditional Chinese culture amply. The choice of the text is based on the reason that Lv Shi Chu Qiu (The Annals of Lv Buwei) written before221B. C. is an encyclopedic book covering the field of astronomy, geography, the thought of Yin-Yang, the principle of the Five Main Elements, climates, music, education, military affairs, regimen, agrology, agriculture and historical materials, which is an essential part of Chinese culture and can reflect ancient Chinese culture. So the book is a typical reflection of the Chinese classics and the Chinese culture.Through a comparative study of the two mentioned English translations of Lv Shi Chu Qiu (The Annals of Lv Buwei) and an analysis of relevant factors in the translation, the research reveals the application of the two translation strategies--domestication and foreignization in translating ancient Chinese classics. Through categorizing the culture-specific terms, comparing and analyzing the translations, the following conclusion is made:foreignization is a better way in cultural translation. For the culture-specific terms with obvious cultural elements which can be understood literally without problems, literal translation with notes will be better to convey the message and spread cultural phenomena; for the culture-specific terms with cultural connotation, the combination of literal translation with explanation or transliteration with notes will be the better choice; for the culture-specific terms whose cultural elements are based on contexts, the first choice is foreignization, and domestication is the second; for the culture-specific terms which are meaningless in English, or play a minor role in reflecting culture, domestication could be applied; and for terms translated with foreignization will mislead the readers and hinder readers in understanding the culture conveyed by message, domestication should be adopted. The feasibility of the above conclusion is based on Bhabha’s "Third Space", which makes the translation become possible to be accepted.In postcolonial context, culture-specific terms in translation involve many factors. The choice of the domestication and foreignization is also based on the translators’ understanding of language and culture of both the source language and target language, and on their attitudes.The study provides some implications to the choice of domestication and foreignization in specific situation when translating cultural factors in Chinese classics.