A Comparative Study On Two Chinese Versions Of A Thousand Splendid Suns From The Perspective Of Reception Aesthetics

“A Thousand Splendid Suns” is the second novel written by Afghan American writer Khaled Husseini.Since it was published in 2007,the novel has attracted wide attention and topped the sales of major websites.In the same year,two Chinese versions of “A Thousand Splendid Suns” were published,which are favored by the Chinese readers.With the unique Afghan social and cultural background,the original novel tells the fate of two generations of Afghan women with rich plots and delicate language.This paper selects two Chinese versions of “A Thousand Splendid Suns” translated by Li Jihong and Li Jingyi as the research object,and makes a comparative study of the translation differences in language and culture in the two Chinese versions from the perspective of reception aesthetics.Reception aesthetics comes from hermeneutics.One of the important theoretical reasons is that the focus of this theory has shifted from “text-centered theory” of traditional literary theory to “reader-centered theory.” The theory of “horizon of expectation,” “fusion of horizons” and “the response-inviting structure” put forward by representatives,Juass and Iser,not only brings a new research perspective to the field of literary theory,but also has a significant impact on the field of translation,pushing translation studies to a higher research field.The paper is based on “horizon of expectation,” “fusion of horizons” and“response-inviting structure” of the reception aesthetics.The two Chinese versions of A Thousand Splendid Suns are taken as the object of study by means of comparative analysis,case study and induction.It is mainly divided into language and culture aspects,including intonation and tone,words,four-character expression,rhetoric,word order,nursery rhymes,poetry,politics,religion,customs and so on.Through the comparative study of the three theories of reception aesthetics fully integrated into the detailed case,the paper compares the differences between Chinese and Western language and culture aspects,including the linguistic characteristics of different languages and the untranslatability of cultures.Then,it focuses on the comparison of the linguistic and cultural differences and consistencies between the mainland and Taiwan,including the evolution of characters and social system.The study shows that reception aesthetics has a strong explanatory power and guiding significance for the theory and practice of literary translation.It is great important that the translator should fully consider the active role of readers in the process of translation.Although there are some differences between the two translations,there are still many similarities in language and culture between the two sides.This paper provides a newperspective for the translation study of “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” and the position and value of reception aesthetics in literary translation studies.