On The Translation Of Intertextual Signs In Fortress Besieged

Nowadays literary translation in China is witnessing a transition from mainly introducing western literature to China to the other way round, i.e., introducing Chinese tradition, history, custom and culture to the West, which has become a new trend of translation and has captured the attention of researchers in translation field. Now a critical issue is how Chinese culture can be correctly and confidently introduced to the West via Chinese literary translation, promoting communication and blend between the Western and Eastern culture. This thesis, starting from the viewpoint of intertextuality, tries to study the translation of intertextual signs in C-E literary translation. Intertextual theory originated from semiotics and was mainly applied in the field of literary critism at its very beginning. As is viewed from the perspective of intertextuality, words, word groups or even sentences in a text are all intertextual signs, through which the text can be linked with other prior texts, in much the same way as the cultural elements existing in classical Chinese literary works are closely related to other texts or the social and historical background behind itself. Based on this common ground, this thesis comes up with a constructive model revised from Hatim's model of translating intertextual reference, under which the translation of intertextual signs in Fortress Besieged are discussed. Some typical strategies and techniques are thus summarized. For instance, the translators take foreignization strategy to keep the semiotic status of intertextual signs,under which techniques of literal translation, transliteration, explanation and annotation are adopted. Besides, the translators take domestication strategy to preserve the informational status of intertextual signs, under which techniques of free translation, substitution and amplification are adopted. Through further analysis of the findings this thesis ends up with a conclusion that in translating intertextual signs foreignization should be adopted as a prior strategy while domestication a supplementary one because this can keep the foreignness of the SL and make the SL culture appreciable by the target readers so that intercultural communication will be promoted. More importantly, it verifies the importance of properly dealing with intertextual signs in conveying cultural connotations and improving translation readability.