On The Translation Of Tibetan Cultural Information In Red Poppies: A Novel Of Tibet

In translating Tibetan literature into English, how to deal with cultural factors is very crucial for the effective introduction of Tibetan culture to the West. It has also been an important issue concerned by translators. This paper attempts to study the translation of Tibetan culture into English in the English version of Chen Ai Luo Ding(《尘埃落定》)rendered by Howard Goldblatt, namely, Red Poppies:A Novel of Tibet, in order to find out a principle applicable to translating Chinese ethnic literature into English.In order to reveal the strategies for translating cultural information, this paper applies "cultural matrix", a concept proposed by Liu Miqing, to analyzing translation methods. By means of contrast between the source text and the translated text, the translation methods of cultural factors in Red Poppies:A Novel of Tibet are classified and summarized. Furthermore, in the process of assessing the translator's strategy in light of Reiss's main structure and viewpoint of translation criticism, this paper purports to summarize his translation characteristics.In the first chapter, the paper presents a literature review on the studies of cultural translation and discusses the definition of culture from the perspective of translation studies. In the second chapter, the paper presents the cultural background in Chen Ai Luo Ding, in order to pave way for further analysis of culture translation. In the third chapter, this paper proposes to analyze the cultural carriers in cultural matrix, namely, culture-loaded words, setting, event or act, atmosphere or mood, characters, author's way of writing, in order to grasp the Tibetan culture essence. In light of the culture matrix, it exemplifies the translation methods in Red Poppies:A Novel of Tibet according to the following principle:semantic translation mainly for dealing with denotative cultural information, and communicative translation for connotative cultural information. Furthermore, the translator's strategy is summarized as follows:orientation to communicative translation with semantic translation as a necessary supplement to it. In the fourth chapter, this paper aims at covering two aspects:on the one hand, evaluating the translator's strategy; on the other hand, summarizing his translation characteristics based on his own translation views. For this purpose, Reiss's main structure and viewpoint of translation criticism are applied to assessing the translator's strategy. It contains text type, linguistic elements, extra-linguistic determinants and the subjective conditions of translators. In the process of assessment, the translator's characteristics are summarized as follows: intelligibility and readability are the major concern in translating. The translator is faithful to the original message on the micro level, while regardful of the usage of the target language and the target reader's reception on a macro level. Last but not least, the paper consists of the following typical moves:restating the main results and claiming the significance. The paper argues that Howard Goldblatt's translation strategy is accurate and can be employed as the guidance to translating Tibetan literature into English, and that his translation characteristics are worth studying.