A C-E Translation Report On Traditional Folk Culture Under Thick Translation

Folk culture is a crystallization of traditional wisdom,a living witness of history and a vital bond of civilization inheritance.Wanshou Palace is the spiritual totem of Jiangyou Merchants’ Group,a distinctive symbol of Jiangxi culture and also a precious portion of Chinese culture,enjoying the magnificent reputation as“Quintessence of Ganpo Culture,Courier Station of Jiangyou Merchants’ Group,Model of the Belt and Road”.In the era of promoting Chinese culture “Going Global”,the English translation of excellent Chinese traditional folk culture is of unique value for telling Chinese stories well and building cultural confidence.Folk Customs of Wanshou Palace is an academic monograph that comprehensively depicts the folk culture of the palace,describing the cultural development,historical changes and myths as well as legends of the palace.To build a vivid folk cultural context of the palace for the target readers,the translator excerpted the preface and several myths of the book,taking into account multiple characteristics such as folk features,historical,cultural along with entertaining elements,with a view to bringing vigor and vitality to the overseas dissemination of Chinese culture.Derived from Cultural Anthropology,the theory of thick translation has been closely related to the dissemination of cultural texts since its first birth.Based on the principle of “highly context-dependent”,American translation theorist Appiah put forward the concept of thick translation in 1993,emphasizing the respect and interpretation of heterogeneous cultures.The kernel of thick translation strategy is to locate the translation text in a rich cultural and linguistic context for the target readers by adding various annotations and interpretations.In terms of the location of these annotations and interpretations,the strategy could be classified into three categories: text-self,text-close and text-remote.Featured with distinctive Chinese traditional culture,Folk Customs of Wanshou Palace contains abundant cultural elements such as Taoist culture,historical culture,and miraculous legends.The Chinese cultural genes should be preserved to the greatest extent in the process of overseas dissemination,enabling the target language readers to fully appreciate the charm of Chinese culture.Therefore,guided by the theory of thick translation,the paper explores its applicability in the practice of translating folk culture into English.On the ground of the translation practice and research,several conclusions have been drawn as follows: Firstly,text-self thick translation strategy should be preferred in folk culture translation under thick translation theory,because it not only possesses invisible features that facilitate the target readers’ reading,but is also in conformity with the logic and expression habits of English writing by adding appositions(clauses),attributes(clauses),in-text brackets,dashes,etc.The principle of brevity should always be borne in mind and the translation should not be lengthy as its ultimate goal is to serve the reader,bring them a smooth reading experience.Secondly,when there is a cultural vacancy in the target language for folklore images with Chinese characteristics which could not be explained by concise words,text-close thick translation strategy can be applied to annotate it,such as adding footnotes or in-text pictures.However,it should also be used in a moderate way,and never adds any unnecessary information,which may have a negative effect on the reading fluency.Finally,text-remote thick translation strategy could be employed,by adding the translator’s postscript,relevant books and articles for further reading,etc.,to build an intricate cultural net,introduce the target readers into the palace of heterogeneous culture,and further arouse their interest in Chinese folk culture.The translator must ensure the authority and reliability of the appendix materials.Currently,few scholars apply the thick translation theory to the translation of Chinese folk culture,and at the same time,English translations of Wanshou Palace Culture are relatively scarce,which leads to seriously insufficient overseas dissemination and promotion.Therefore,the application of thick translation in this practice is conducive to the international dissemination of Chinese Taoist culture,historical culture and folk mythology,providing references for translation practice and research of the relevant texts,and making a small contribution to the “Going Global” of Chinese culture.