A Comparative Study On Cross-Culture Translation Of Some Poems, Ci Songs, Fu And Allusions In Two English Versions Of Hong Lou Meng

By introducing the conception and features of culture, the author of the thesis shows its inner connection with language and translation, and brings translation study into the field of culture.Translation is more than the transference of meaning between two languages; it s the communicating and mixing of two cultures. In general, cultural distance and cultural barriers form the most of problems and difficulties in translation. Cultural distance includes the distance between target readers and source culture, source text and source culture, readers and texts. Cultural barriers find expression in language, thinking pattern, value system and religious belief. To bridge distance and overcome barriers, translators must do the following things: to know one's own culture, to understand cultural default, to cultivate cross-cultural awareness and to develop comprehensive bilingual and bicultural abilities.Hong Lou Meng is one of the four classic masterpieces of Chinese Literature as well as gems of world cultural treasure-house, in which there exists abundant folk culture: seasons and festivals, weddings and funerals, food, clothing, shelter and transportation, entertainment and amusement, life and family rite, gardens and medicines, etc. It fully deserves the title of "An encyclopedia of Chinese culture".Therefore the thesis takes some poems, ci, songs, fu and allusions in Hong Lou Meng as study object and chooses two authorative English versions: A Dream of Red Mensions translated by Yang Xianyi and The Story of the Stone translated by David Hawkes as comparative objects.Approaches to cultures involved in translation are varied, but most of them are binary. The thesis takes two groups of most typical and influential approaches or patterns as theoretical foundation and makes a case study on these two versions of Hong Lou Meng. In traditional translation critique, critics are always in favor of one of approaches or patterns and against another. The analysis leads to the conclusion that both semantic translation and communicative translation have their advantages and drawbacks, and it is true of domestication and foreignization. Different translation approaches or patterns result from different translation purpose, serve different readers and get different effects. None of above approaches or patterns can singly fulfill translation task. Generally speaking, the author thinks that no single pattern can solve all problems in translation; the principle of translation should be relative and polysynthetic, but not absolute. Only when translators take advantages of all translations approaches or patterns, can they reproduce the cultural connotation of Hong Lou Meng, achieve the goal of cultural communication between China and western countries simultaneously.