A Reception Aesthetic Approach To The Translation Of Xiehouyu

Xiehouyu is a peculiar kind of Chinese idioms originated from labor folks. Its development from a lower-class language into an expressive literary instrument is closely related with the development of novels as a literary style. Men of letters in modern times are attracted by its peculiar structure, vivid images and humorous effect, making it a common resort to literary writing and especially characterization. But the literary value of Xiehouyu does not attract due attention from scholars in the realm of translation and most of them are intended to provide specific strategies for the translation of isolated expressions. This impels the author of this thesis to probe into the influencing factors in translating Xiehouyu in literary works and then study the flexible choice of translation strategies.As a study of literary translation, this research finds its theoretical base in reception aesthetics. This theory is labeled as a literary criticism theory, whose central point is an emphasis on the active role of the reader in literary reception. From a reception aesthetic point of view, the meaning of the original text is indeterminate and cannot be fully determined for the reader. The reader usually enters the reading process with his/her "horizon of expectations" formed in previous readings, life experience and cultural background. In this sense, the reception of the same literary work may be different from reader to reader and from reading to reading. Reception aesthetic views on the synchronic and diachronic nature of literary reception not only shed new light on literary translation but also compensate for the limitations of the previous researches in two aspects: its respect for both the translator and the reader and its dialectic perspectives on the reception of the translated version.When translating Xiehouyu in literary works, the translator will first understand the original expression in the particular context based on his/her own background knowledge and cultural awareness, and then develop an appropriate translation method with the reader's horizon of expectations and the horizontal and vertical reception of the version being taken into account. With an empirical analysis on the strategies adopted by the two translators of Hong Lou Meng, the thesis draws the following conclusions: the translation of Xiehouyu in literary works is marked by the flexible choices of translation strategies and methods caused by the differences between translators and translatings. To sum up, source language oriented methods are advantageous in meeting the reader's horizon of expectations; while the target language oriented methods are justified by the individual difference in horizontal reception of the version during a certain period of time. Yet from a diachronic view, source language orientation is bound to become the general tendency of literary translation.