The Translation Of Dietetic Culture In Hong Lou Meng

The study of the translation of Hong Lou Meng constitutes an important area in translation studies due to its contributions to both translation theory and practice. At present, there have been various efforts to study the translation of Hong Lou Meng, especially the two complete English versions produced respectively by Yang Xianyi (together with Gladys Yang) and by David Hawkes (continued by John Minford). So far, such studies have made considerable achievements but are at the same time limited in their guiding principle, theoretical basis, methodology, object of study and other aspects. With the insights already obtained in sight, the present study attempts, by adopting the dialectical systemic view of translation formulated by Jia Zhengchuan as its philosophical guidance, the German functionalist theories of translation as its theoretical basis, and an integrated methodology using both rational and empirical or both deductive and inductive methods and procedures, to make a comparative study of the translation of dietetic culture in the two complete English versions of Hong Lou Meng so as to arrive at a more systemic understanding of the strategies of literary-cum-cultural translation in particular and the process of translation in general.In the dialectical systemic view of translation, translation is a complex human activity system composed of source text (ST) writer, translator, target text (TT) reader, ST, TT, strategy and other components, existing in and being conditioned by situational and socio-cultural contexts; in it, translation strategies are closely connected with all the other components or contextual factors. According to functionalism, translation is a purposeful activity composed of ST producer, sender, translation initiator, translator, TT receiver, ST, TT, strategy and other factors; in it, the choice of translation strategies is mainly determined by translation purposes (or Skoposi), requirements (or briefs) and other factors. From the above view and theories of translation, we may deduce a theoretical understanding of the translation of dietetic contents in the two versions of Hong Lou Meng as follows: The choice of strategies of the two translations is an integral part of the translation of the novel and is mainly determined by their respective translation Skoposi and briefs, which are in turn determined by the respective initiator or translator and influenced by their respective times and places of target reception, TT addressees, political and historical backgrounds, etc.; due to the differences in their respective translation Skoposi and briefs, translators of the two versions adopt different strategies. In the light of the above theoretical understanding and through an empirical analysis of related information and samples from the two versions, we can arrive at the following specific understanding of the translation of dietetic contents in Hong Lou Meng: The Skoposi and briefs of Yang's translation is to present the text as it is and to introduce the Chinese culture to the West while the Skoposi and briefs of Hawkes'translation is to produce an easily acceptable novel to please the English readers; accordingly, Yang emphasizes fidelity or intertextual coherence and mainly (in about 78% of cases) adopts a source-oriented translation strategy (or documentary translation) while Hawkes stresses intratextual coherence and mainly (in about 81% of cases) adopts a target-oriented strategy (or instrumental translation).The result of this study may help to enhance the translator's awareness or ability to flexibly select translation strategies according to different translation Skoposi or briefs, and may thus improve the practice of literary-cum-cultural translation in particular and translation in general. Hopefully, it may also help to compensate for the weaknesses of the relevant studies. The present study is therefore of both practical and theoretical significance.