On Linguistic And Cultural Untranslatability And Their Translation Strategies And Approaches

For the inter-influence and inter-restriction between language and culture, translation, as a disseminative intermediary, not only means the transformation between different languages, but also involves the transmittance between different cultures. Cultural universality make translation possible, but its'peculiarity make untranslatability occur. The research on untranslatability is one of the important studies in the modern translation theories. As Chinese traditional cultural aggregation, Hong Lou Meng is translated into kinds of languages and spreads during the other many countries. Yang Xianyi's version and David Hawkes'version are the most authoritative in all of the English translated versions. So, through comparing to and analyzing these two English translations, studying linguistic and cultural untranslatability is academic significant. After the comparison and analysis these two translations, it was found that the source language is different from the target language not only in pronunciations, styles of characters, vocabularies, rhetoric, etc., but also in Ecology, Religious Culture, Material Culture, Social Culture, etc.. These differences inevitably cause translation barrier, and create untranslatability. But the linguistic and cultural untranslatability is not absolute and static but relative and changeable. With the development of society and the expansion of national cultural interflow, through the translators'efforts, untranslatability is surely changed into translatability.This thesis consists of three parts which are introduction, principal part and conclusion. Meanwhile, principal part consists of four chapters.Introduction It simply introduces Hong Lou Meng's two English translated versions——Yang Xianyi'version and David Hawkes'version, and then briefly formulates the history and present condition of the research on untranslatability. At last, it clarifies this thesis's linguistic and cultural visual angle.Chapter I Through expressing the relationships of language, culture and translation, this chapter leads to this thesis'proposition——untranslatability. For the inter-influence and inter-restriction between language and culture, translation not only means the transformation between different languages, but also involves the transmittance between different cultures. Cultural universality make translation possible, but its'peculiarity make untranslatability occur.Chapter II This chapter expounds untranslatability's conception, classifies, emergent causes and requirements. Meanwhile, it sets forth untranslatability's philosophical essence. Linguistic causes and cultural causes bring about linguistic untranslatability and cultural untranslatability. But untranslatability's philosophical essence is cultural incommensurability.Chapter III By the comparison and analysis of Hong Lou Meng's two English translated versions, this chapter proves that the source language is different from the target language not only in pronunciations, styles of characters, vocabularies, rhetoric, etc., but also in Ecology, Religious Culture, Material Culture, Social Culture, etc.. These differences inevitably cause translation barrier, and create untranslatability.Chapter IV This chapter points out untranslatability's relativity, and then inquires into the translation strategies and compensating approaches which can make untranslatability become translatability. Untranslatability surely exists, but it is not absolute and static but relative and changeable. If the translators fully play their dynamic roles to choose the proper translation strategies, and wield the effective compensating approaches, untranslatability could be changed into translatability.Conclusion Cultural translation is a systems engineering, which interpenetrates Linguistic and Cultural levels, conbining with kinds of elements. Hong Lou Meng's translation practices reveal that most of the words and sentences are translatable and just a few can't be translatable. The existence of untranslatability is inevitable, which is not stactic and absolute but changeable and relative.With the development of society and the expansion of national cultural interflow, through the translators'efforts, untranslatability is surely changed into translatability.