A Comparative Study Of The Two English Versions Of Lun Yu By Arthur Waley And Ku Hungming From The Perspective Of The Translatability Of Texts

Being one of the most influential classics compiled in the pre-Qin Period in China, Lun Yu is a good reflection of the Confucian ideology, with its content ranging over topics in the fields of philosophy, politics, economics, education, literature and art. It has a profound influence on the development of traditional Chinese values and culture. As the Confucianism is becoming popular worldwide, the translation studies concerning ancient Chinese classics are attracting increasing attention from scholars in this field. Under such circumstances, this thesis chooses from many English versions the two translated by British linguist Arthur Waley and Chinese scholar Ku Hungming, conducting a comparative study in the hope of providing a meaning perspective for future translators.The present study is based on the theoretical framework of the translatability of texts. Through comparative analysis of Waley's and Ku's translations, the author tries to illustrate that the application of appropriate translation strategies could reduce to some extent the cultural and linguistic untranslatability. The issue of the translatability of texts has long been a hot topic in translation studies. Traditionally, there are essentially two points of view concerning this issue, namely the universalist one and the monadist one. Supporters of the universalist approach insist that the existence of linguistic universals ensure translatability. And they accept the view that, in principle, everything could be conveyed in any language. On the other hand, supporters of the monadist approach claim that each language, as an individual system, has its own immeasurable individuality, and that each community has its unique thinking pattern and thus interprets reality in their own way, which jeopardizes translatability.In the introduction to the theoretical framework, emphasis is laid on the theories of the British linguist and translation theorist J.C. Catford. He proposed his own definitions of untranslatability concerning different types of translation and also classified it into two categories: linguistic untranslatability and cultural untranslatability. The present study is conducted mainly by means of comparative analysis of the two translated versions. In addition to the comparisons in terms of translation strategies, the thesis also analyzes several problematic translations owing to inadequate understanding of the translator. The effort is made here to reduce misinterpretation and cultural loss in the translation process so that the essence of Chinese culture could be rendered into English with authentic meaning and vivid expression.