Brief Analysis Of The Foreignization Strategy In The Translation Of Ru Lin Wai Shi

Ru Lin Wai Shi bears its unique characteristics in Chinese history of literature. Unlike previous novels which focused on anecdotes, Ru Lin Wai Shi is the first which depicts the daily lives of scholars from the perspective of a scholar, the author himself. It shows readers the real social life and the nature of people, thus set as an example for the later novels with the theme of real world portrayal. It is regarded as the first full-length satirical novel in China. The author Wu Ching Tzu wrote this novel not as a relater in a dominant tone rather he let the characters to show themselves by skillfully delineating their words and actions. Moreover, the language of this novel is excellent. The author summarized the dialects of Quanjiao, Yangzhou, Nanjing in China and added some classical Chinese and jargons, so the words of the characters are compatible with their status and occupation. The language he employed is very concise, vivid and exact.In the view of cultural exchanges, the core of translation is to deal with the difference in the original text. To this end there are two widely recognized strategies,"Domestication"and"Foreignization"which complement each other. The purpose of the translators, Yang Hsien-Yi and his wife Gladys Yang is to introduce Chinese culture to foreign readers as much as possible, therefore, they mainly followed the culture of the original text, reflected the employment of"Foreignization". This thesis analyzed the effects of foreignization strategy employed in handling those parts with rich cultural information, like Chinese etiquette, custom, poems, idioms and analogy.The conclusion of this thesis is that by using foreignization strategy the target text retained the characteristics of Chinese and effectively presented the Chinese culture, custom, taste and value to the readers. In the time when Ru Lin Wai Shi was translated, the translation of Chinese classics to English was scarce, and the western world knew little about China, so in this context, giving prominence to the difference of Chinese in the translation is of great importance in spreading Chinese culture to the world.