A Comparative Study Of The Translation Of Culture-loaded Words Of Hongloumeng In The Light Of Skopostheorie

Translation is a. purposeful activity of human beings, which leads toSkopostheorie proposed by some German scholars in 1970s. Unlike traditionaltranslation theories, it only regards source texts as information providers. Duringtranslation, the translator selects the information intentionally to fulfill thetranslation purpose and meet the target readers' needs in accordance with thecommissioners' requirements. Within the framework of the theory, equivalence, anaged yardstick of a translation, is replaced by adequacy. This criterion ends up thehot debate between domestication and foreignization, which are two strategiesclosely related in the translation of culture-loaded words. Skopostheorie hasprovided us with a new perspective in translation. However, it was not introduced toChinese translators until recently and few scholars have attempted to study andanalyze the translated literary works within the framework of Skopostheorie.Guided mainly by Skopostheorie, this thesis is intended to probe into thetranslation of culture-loaded words of Hongloumeng within the four subsystems ofculture: social system, linguistic system, ideational system, and techno-economicsystem, the purpose is to reveal how the skopos influences the translators' choice oftranslation methods and strategies in translation, and what effect or effects can beachieved. My research is conducted on the comparison of two translated versions—ADream of Red Mansions by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang and The Story of the Stoneby David Hawkes. These two English versions are different as a result of applyingdifferent translation strategies. Both versions have achieved their goals. They aregood translations. However, in terms of achieving the objective of maintainingChinese cultural sense, of introducing Chinese cultural heritage to foreign readers ina new era of globalization, foreignization is more effective. At the same timeadequacy-centered assessment criterion is introduced to the field of translationcriticism.This thesis is composed of six chapters. In Chapter One, the researchbackground, problems to be solved and the format of this thesis are clearly stated. InChapter Two, definition and classification of culture can be found. The importantrole translation has played in culture transferring is expounded in the same chapter.The author also points out that in transferring cultural message of literary works, themost difficult and important point is to effectively, translate culture-loaded words. InChapter Three, culture-loaded words are introduced in detail. In the translation ofthese words the commonly applied techniques are foreignization and domestication.In Chapter Four, the author gives a clear description of Skopotherie which can open up a different horizon for us in translation criticism. In Chapter Four the theoreticalbasis of this thesis is established. In Chapter Five, general comments on thetranslation of Hongloumeng are displayed from the perspective of Skopostheorie.Chapter Six focuses on the comparison and analysis of the translation ofculture-loaded words from the two versions in the light of Skopostheorie. Mycomparison and analysis revealed that the Yangs mainly adopted the strategy offoreignization, while Hawkes mainly used the strategy of domestication, for both ofthem had their respective skopos. The conclusion is drawn by the author on the basisof the detailed analysis in the previous chapters.