An Intercultural Approach To Translator As Mediator In Chinese-English Novel Translation

Since the "cultural turn" which was promoted by translation theorists such as Susan Bassnett and Mary Snell-Hornby in the 1980s, translation studies have entered a prosperous phase. Inspired by this phenomenal trend, scholars and theorists of translation studies begin to incorporate multidimensional perspectives into cultural aspects of translation.This thesis attempts to examine the theoretical framework of Pym's intercultural theory, in which translation is regarded as a process of cultural interaction. The translator belongs to the "interculture". which is the third place or middle ground between the source culture (SC) and the target culture (TC), where he/she mediates for mutual benefits. Moreover, Pym sets up a translation's "transaction-cost model" based on the so-called "neoclassical negotiation theory" to emphasize the rationality and significance of mutual benefits and long-term cooperation between SC and TC, and argues that the translator should hold an objective view toward both sides and take every translative effort to ensure the translation quality.As an exemplified case, some deficiencies of the Chinese-English translation of Lang Tu Teng(Wolf Totem) are examined. Based on Pym's intercultural theory and transaction-costs model, the present author argues that the current English version of Lang Tu Teng can only be considered as a unilateral translation that is at relatively high cost of the author's intension and the target reader's interpretation. In order to make up for the cultural losses caused by the deficiencies in Wolf Totem and achieve mutual benefits, the present author holds that "thick translation" which aims to provide abundant cultural contexts should be adopted as a compensation strategy. Since the "cultural turn" which was promoted by translation theorists such as Susan Bassnett and Mary Snell-Hornby in the 1980s, translation studies have entered a prosperous phase. Inspired by this phenomenal trend, scholars and theorists of translation studies begin to incorporate multidimensional perspectives into cultural aspects of translation.This thesis attempts to examine the theoretical framework of Pym's intercultural theory, in which translation is regarded as a process of cultural interaction. The translator belongs to the "interculture". which is the third place or middle ground between the source culture (SC) and the target culture (TC), where he/she mediates for mutual benefits. Moreover, Pym sets up a translation's "transaction-cost model" based on the so-called "neoclassical negotiation theory" to emphasize the rationality and significance of mutual benefits and long-term cooperation between SC and TC, and argues that the translator should hold an objective view toward both sides and take every translative effort to ensure the translation quality.As an exemplified case, some deficiencies of the Chinese-English translation of Lang Tu Teng(Wolf Totem) are examined. Based on Pym's intercultural theory and transaction-costs model, the present author argues that the current English version of Lang Tu Teng can only be considered as a unilateral translation that is at relatively high cost of the author's intension and the target reader's interpretation. In order to make up for the cultural losses caused by the deficiencies in Wolf Totem and achieve mutual benefits, the present author holds that "thick translation" which aims to provide abundant cultural contexts should be adopted as a compensation strategy.