A Study On Cultural Untranslatability And Its Compensation Strategies

Translation plays an indispensable role in cross-cultural communication.It is not just a linguistic activity involving only two languages,but also a cross-cultural communication that calls for the interplay between two distinctive cultures.People read literary works from other countries not only for fresh stories,but also for knowledge and tradition of those foreign cultures.Jin Yong,greatest master among authors of martial arts novels,created a series of“Jin Yong Myths.” Jin Yong’s novel started its spread overseas in the early stage of modern Chinese translation history.It was rapidly popular in Southeast Asia and became a “phenomenal” cross-cultural communication craze,especially in Korea and Japan during the 1970 s.However,due to its strong “cultural flavor”,martial arts often encountered unpopularity in the English-speaking communities.The exoticism that hampers the transmission of Jin’s novel arises much from the linguistic and cultural differences between the source and target language.In the face of the difference,no matter what strategies the translator takes,it is difficult for the translation to correspond exactly to the original,which results in untranslatability.Untranslatability,however,does not mean that translation is not possible,but simply that two different languages cannot be fully translated and interpreted for some reasons.In other words,untranslatability is relative and can be solved through the use of translation compensation strategies.Currently,the first two volumes of the Legends of the Condor Heroes,translated by Anna and Gigi respectively,have been well received by overseas readers since their publication,greatly changing the dilemma of the overseas dissemination of Jin Yong’s novels.This thesis thus explores the two translated texts from myriad elements grouped under four aspects,including modest and respectful expressions,social customs,religious difference and historical culture.This thesis aims to examine,explore and analyze the compensational measures taken by translators with conclusions that would,hopefully,shed light on how to approach untranslatability in literary translation,especially in the translation of literary texts of similar genres.