Domestication: The First Choice In Literary Translation

The dispute over "domestication" and "foreignization" has never stopped since the two strategies were put forward in translation field.Nowadays,among the numerous articles on these two strategies,many of them argue that foreignization should be the main strategy in translation.But in the present author's mind,in the field of literary translation,which is different from other types of translation,such as scientific and technological translation and pragmatic translation,domestication should be the main strategy;that is to say,domestication should be the first choice in literary translation. Applying Readers' Response Theory of Nida as the theoretical framework,combining the comparison of the two Chinese versions of Tess of the d'Urbevilles by Zhang Guruo and Sun Fali respectively,the thesis proves that the strategy of domestication should be the first choice in literary translation from the perspectives of the criteria for and tasks of literary translation.The thesis is divided into six chapters.Chapter One is "Introduction." In this chapter the author first reviews the dispute over "foreignization" and "domestication".Then the thesis states that the purpose of the research is to prove "domestication" should be the first choice in literary translation.Next, the author offers the research questions and states the layout of the thesis.Finally,the author states the significance of the research.Chapter Two,"Readers' Response Theory of Nida",first reviews the consideration of readers in China and the West before Nida and thus proves that Readers' Response Theory of Nida has a profound basis in theory and practice.Next,the thesis talks about Readers' Response Theory of Nida and gets the conclusion that Readers' Response Theory of Nida is the development of the consideration of readers in traditional translation theory both in China and the West.After talking about the content of Readers' Response Theory of Nida,the thesis reviews the influence of Readers' Response Theory of Nida in China and the West.Finally,the chapter explains the six reasons that Readers' Response Theory of Nida can be used as the translation criterion.The reasons are:(1) Reader's Response Theory of Nida is text-oriented,(2) Reader's ResponseTheory of Nida does not necessarily lead to extreme domestication and cultural hegemonism,(3) Reader's Response Theory of Nida is not so subjective as "reception aesthetics" or "readers' response theory" in literary criticism,and therefore can be used as a translation criterion,(4) Reader's Response Theory of Nida does not neglect the style of the original, (5) Reader's Response Theory of Nida combines the evaluation of the average readers and that of the competent critics,so it possesses authority over the other criteria and(6) Readers' Response Theory of Nida is more objective and scientific,because it compares not only the source text and the target text,but also the source readers' response and the target readers' response.Chapter Three,"Domestication and Foreignization",begins with the definitions of the two strategies,next reviews the dispute over the two strategies.At the end of the chapter,the thesis concludes that though translators have already agreed that both strategies are necessary in translation,as to the priority of the two strategies,opposite opinions still exist among translators.Chapter Four,"A Research on Domestication and Foreignization from the Perspective of the Criteria for Literary Translation",first reviews the criteria for literary translation in both China and the West,and gets the conclusion that Readers' Response Theory of Nida is the development of the criteria for literary translation both in China and the West,and so it can be used as the criterion for literary translation.Then guided by Readers' Response Theory of Nida,the thesis compares the two versions and gets the conclusion that domestication should be the first choice in literary translation since it can produce the same or similar response among the target readers as that among the source readers.Chapter Five is "A Research on Domestication and Foreignization from the Perspective of the Tasks of Literary Translation." This chapter researches domestication and foreignization from the four tasks of literary translation respectively by comparing the two versions.The tasks of literary translation stated in this chapter are:(1) translating the meaning of the original;(2) transmitting the emotions of the original;(3) reproducing the style of the original and(4) promoting cultural communication.After comparison,the conclusion is reached that since domestication can finish the tasks of literary translation better and cause the same or similar response among the target readers,it should be the first choice in literary translation.Chapter Six is "Conclusion".In this chapter the present author concludes the reasons of the view that domestication should be the first choice in literary translation on the basis of the first five chapters' analyses.Though the thesis proves that domestication should be the main strategy in literary translation,the present author does not think it means foreignization is unnecessary in literary translation.In order to introduce foreign culture,on the basis of guaranteeing the version's intelligibility and acceptability, foreignization can be adopted reasonably,and at the same time,extreme domestication should be avoided.