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A Study On Cultural Untranslatability Of The Story Of The Stone And The Compensation Strategies For Its Translation

Posted on:2012-03-10Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:F XuFull Text:PDF
GTID:2155330335459517Subject:Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
This research applies qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the untranslatability of culture and compensation strategy of translation which are used in Hawkes' English version of The Story of the Stone. Preliminary study indicates that due to cultural differences between the source and target language, cultural contents in the source-text are not all translated literally, amplification and other compensation methods are also applied to make the target readers have a better understanding of source cultures. Combining the qualitative and quantitative methods, the author of this thesis finds out that there are cultural blanks between the target and source language; the culture untranslatability of one culture to some extent and some compensation strategies could be applied to make up for the cultural loss in translation.The research proves that in Hawkes' English version of The Story of the Stone, some cultural contents are translated literally; some are translated by other methods and some of translations are directly from Hawkes' own creation. Considering the unity of the translation style, this thesis focuses merely on the first 80 chapters of Hawkes' version. This thesis attempts to find out whether this phenomenon extensively exists in The Story of the Stone and further probes Hawkes' compensation strategies for cultural contents through more objective approaches that related literatures are collected and questionnaire survey is conducted.The major findings of this research are presented as follows:1. Cultural translation has the characteristics of relative untranslatability due to the differences between eastern and western cultures.2. In Hawkes' version, some cultural contents are translated literally; some added annotation after liberal translation; others are translated from amplification, and still others are translated from creation.3. By using compensation strategies, the misunderstanding and confusing places can be made up and the target readers' cultural background vacancy can be filled up.
Keywords/Search Tags:The Story of the Stone, Cultural Untranslatability, Strategy
PDF Full Text Request
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