A Study Of Connotation Transmission Of Cultural Words In The Tao Te Ching From The Perspective Of Thick Translation

The Tao Te Ching expresses the all encompassing nature of Taoist philosophy with itsabstruse language. The understanding and translation of this book is no easy task for it waswritten in a previous time, replete with peculiarities of an ancient form of the Chinese languageand a unique culturally symbolic framework. This thesis aims to explore translation andconnotation transmission of cultural words in the Tao Te Ching utilizing the theory of “thicktranslation”. This thesis principally adopts a qualitative method to analyze the explanation ofcultural words in three representative translations of “thick translation”, supplemented with asurvey of target language readers to assess their understanding of the varied realizations of “thicktranslation”. This analysis has revealed the effectiveness of different realizations of thetranslation and furthermore, conclusions have been drawn on the efficacy of certain techniquesemployed by the translators to translate the cultural words of this ancient classic in accordancewith the key tenets of “thick translation”. These techniques include the provision ofsupplementary information and explanation to provide the reader with cultural context and toassist in the transmission of hidden meaning of the cultural words, which is designed to facilitatethe target language readers’ understanding and appreciation of the cultural identity of the periodof Chinese history in which the book was written.The analysis of cultural words’ translation has demonstrated the role that the techniques of“thick translation” can play in building source cultural background and transmitting hiddenmeaning. However, there is an argument that the “thick translation” style deviates from theconcise style of presentation of the original text. Meanwhile, while some of the surveyrespondents have affirmed the useful function of “thick translation”, they also express the viewthan an inaccurate or inappropriate annotation of the text may in fact be counterproductive.Besides which, if the translator transmits their own cultural bias in his or her form of “thicktranslation” this may have the effect of misguiding the target language readers’ understanding ofancient classics. At the same time, the connotation transmission could also be limited by thetarget language readers’ cultural bias. While “thick translation” is undeniably a functionallyefficient technique the adoption of this theory should be flexible enough to accommodatedifferent circumstances and it also requires and challenges the translators’ language levels,translation techniques and cultural accomplishment.