A Study Of The Idioms In The Novel A Dream Of Red Mansions Translated By Yang Hsien-yi And Gladys Yang

Most idioms are of figurative language and their images are usually vivid and culture-specific. Idioms are the quintessence of a language. The idioms in this thesis are from the classical Chinese novel Hong Lou Meng and they mainly consist of set phrases of four characters, common sayings or proverbs and two-part allegorical sayings. Most of the idioms are vivid, humorous and instructive. A systematic analysis of the selected idioms has been made on the basis of the three cultural categories of material culture, system culture and mentality culture. What is indicated from the analysis is that the rich connotations of the traditional Chinese culture are vividly transmitted through the idioms in Hong Lou Meng. Translation in its essence is an activity of communicating cultures. English and Chinese belong to two entirely different language families and they are remote in their cultural aspects such as culture traditions, concepts of values, aesthetic standards, religious beliefs and so on. Therefore, in translation practice, it is of critical concern to transfer to the English readers the Chinese cultural idiosyncrasies deposited in the idioms in Hong Lou Meng. The treatment of the cultural factors embedded in the idioms also cause difficulties for a translator.A Dream of Red Mansions is an excellent English version of the Chinese edition of Hong Lou Meng. This popular English version is translated by the famous contemporary Chinese translator Yang Hsien-yi, together with his English wife Lady Gladys, i.e. the Yangs. The writer of the thesis explores the five different ways employed by the Yangs in idiom translation and sums them up in: literal translation, literal translation with a note, translation by paraphrases, literal translation with a paraphrase and idiomatic translation. The analysis of the percentage each translation method accounting for shows that the Yangs mainly take advantage of the method of literal translation to maintain the cultural characteristics contained in the idioms from the original work. This translation strategy of alienation is adopted by the Yangs out of their crucial purpose of disseminating the Chinese culture to the outside world.The Skopos Theory, the core of the German functionalist translation theories, justifies the Yangs' translation strategy of alienation in idiom translation. In addition, as to the acceptability of the translated idioms produced under the guideline of alienation,Reception Theory, a theory of literary criticism, may offer us reasonable theoretical basis.The author approves the translation strategy of alienation employed by the Yangs in idiom translation. Besides, the author holds that the cultural footnotes attached to the idioms in the original work should be added accordingly in the English version. In so doing, it will be easier for the TL readers to appreciate the "exotic atmosphere" carried by the Chinese idioms so as to accelerate the process of crosscultural communication.