A Comparative Study On Two English Versions Of Lun Yu: A Perspective Of Adaptability

Lun Yu, as one of most influential Confucian classics, has enjoyed high esteem at home and exerted its extended influence abroad. Since the 18th century, its various kinds of versions have attracted many researchers to explore the translator-oriented or culture-oriented factors resulting in their differences. However, the translation study on them can not be feasible and objective to offer a desirable answer. Since translation studies have been switched to pragmatic perspective, Verschueren's Adaptation Theory, known as the unified and comprehensive pragmatic perspective, proves to be the relatively feasible approach to investigate different versions of Lun Yu.By virtue of this theory and translation practice, the cross-cultural translation can be considered as the translator's dynamic choices and adaptation at the language-internal and the language-external levels. Further, translation can be embodied in an adaptation model of the communicative interaction of the translator, language use and context. Based on this model, translation is then viewed as the realization of translators'dynamic linguistic adaptability to translation purposes and socio-historical settings by corresponding translation strategies and through translators'subjectivity, which offers a new perspective of adaptability for exploring the production of target texts in these aspects.The paper makes attempts to exert a comparative study on the possible differences and similarities between two English versions of Ku Hungming and Roger T. Ames. Ku and Ames make their distinct translation styles when they interpret Lun Yu in aspects of core Confucian terms, and structural arrangements in order to realize their adaptability to their shared translation purposes of dissatisfaction with former translations, eliminating misunderstandings, disseminating Confucianism. However, Ku holds western culture-orientation in order to adapt to the mainstream of English-language translation and then makes his version in a fluent manner to ease the strangeness of western readers in the late Qing Dynasty while Ames is Chinese culture-oriented because he desires to seek true value of Confucianism for western world so as to eliminate his western readers'presupposed misconceptions upon Chinese philosophy in modern times. Therefore, their adaptive choices in their versions show that they adopt two distinctive strategies—domesticating strategy and foreignizing strategy respectively in their adaptively linguistic choices to realize their adaptability to their basic translation purposes and socio-historical calls.The paper makes attempt to explore the integrated translation study in light of Adaptation Theory and the comparative study on different English versions of Lun Yu in order to help broaden and nourish each individual field. Meanwhile, it is beneficial to the multi-dimensional development of modern translation criticism on Chinese Confucian classics.