Domestication And Foreignization: Two Effective Ways To Handle Cultural Elements In C-E Translation

Hong Lou Meng, with its unique artistic charm and research value both in language and content, symbolizes the peak of Chinese novels characterized by chapter titles. Due to its position in Chinese literary history, there are various papers or books studying it from different aspects. The same is true with its translated versions. However, few papers or books can be found on the translation of its chapter titles. As a matter of fact, chapter titles are the most distinctive mark of a classical Chinese novel. Just as the novel itself, the chapter titles also reflect many cultural factors, the unique form of which helps illustrate the traditional Chinese culture. This is exactly the initial motive of the author in writing such a thesis. By way of comparing the two English versions, respectively by Yang Xianyi and Hawkes, the author of this thesis intends to discuss the translation strategies adopted by each translator and to offer her own viewpoints on chapter titles translation.This thesis consists of six chapters. Chapterâ… is introduction, which gives a general overview of the present study, followed by the significance and purpose for carrying out this research. Chapterâ…¡is mainly about the literature review, which includes two parts. The first part is about previous research on the theory of domestication and foreignization and the different scholars'viewpoints towards the two translation strategies. The second part makes an investigation into previous studies done by other researchers with reference to Hong Lou Meng and its translated versions. Chapterâ…¢elaborates on Venuti's theory of domestication and foreignization. Chapterâ…£, the central part of the whole thesis, carries out a detailed and integrated analysis on the data by using the method of stylistics, which features at different linguistic levels, that is, phonological level, lexical level, syntactic level, rhetorical level and cultural level are studied respectively. And through the data analysis, the author makes a conclusion that Yang adopts mainly the strategy of foreignization while Hawkes, mainly domestication. Chapterâ…¤investigates the determinant factors that influence the translators'choices on their translation strategies. Chapterâ…¥not only is the conclusion of the thesis, but also points out that it is hard to say which translation strategy is better than the other. The author holds that as long as a translator endeavors to finish his/her translation as Yang Xianyi and Hawkes did, the translation would enhance the communication among different cultures and provide the readers a chance to enjoy the classics.