The Jinling Judgment And Its Translation In Two English Translations

Since the first appearance of the great Chinese classic HongLou Meng in the late l8^th century,numerous studies have been done onit, concerning almost every aspect of the novel. There have been studieson the verses with pictures in chapter 5 of the novel, too. But there hasbeen no comparative study of the tfanslation of this part. That's why theauthor of this thesis has chosen this topic for the present thesis entitledJinling Prophecies and Their Translation in the Two English Versions ofHong Lou Meng.The author has adopted the approach of textualanalysis and comparative study, attempting to find new perspectives forthe interpretation of JLPs, to discuss proper ways for the translation ofJLPs, to detect to what extent can JLPs be translatable and accessible toEnglish readers.The author first comes up with the definition, prototype and the dualfeatures of JLPs. The important role JLPS play in the novel is analyzedto show the significance of the study on them. Then comes a detailedtextual analysis of JLPs in chapter Ⅱ, focusing on the writing deviceschosen by the original writer to obtain symbolic effect, such asmetaphor, pun, allusion, and rebus. By this textual analysis, the originalwriter's intentions are dug out, the requirements for the translation ofJLPs are raised, and the difficulties of translation revealed.In chapter Ⅲ the author does a detailed comparative study of thetranslations of JLPs by the two well-known trapslators Mr.Yang Xianyiand David Hawkes, focusing on their rendering of metaphors, puns,allusions and rebuses. The effects of the two versions are compared andthe two versions are evaluated respectively.Chapter Ⅳ of the thesisdeals with the llmltatlons In the translation ofJLPs c州sedby bothcultllral and linguistic differences betweenthetwo non－relatedlanguages ofChlnese andEnglish．The thesis concludes:even though neither of＊ther translations ofJLPsachieves the same symbolic effect as the source teXt,as long as theeffects oftranslatlon are concerned,Ha毗es'tfanslatlon ofJLPs,withorlorltles well chosen and more factors,especlallythe ae讪etlc valuetaken Into constheratlon Is more lthely to produce effects on he Engllhreaders slmllarto those of＊therto original onthe Chinese readers．B吐 dueto the cultural and hn部lstlc dl地rences between Chinese and gnghsh,llmltatlons ayyear In the translation ofJLPs．The specially洲empteddevices such as metaPhoL pun,allusion andrebus aretfanslated In alimited w毗 bec删se eltherthe mess昭e orthe mariner of＊ther source ie杠Is bound to ee when translated Into English．Therefore,absolute orcomplete translation equlvalence Is an unl油ly3 foot lmpossMe,resultinoehanslulon of几Ps,eventhoughre1Nlve equlvalemsMe beenachlevedatdlfferentlevels．Consequem匕 ltls assumedthatEngllshreaders,while readingthe English versions ofJLPs,m叫 get a fractionof＊the pleasure that Chinese readers can gethm readingthe onglnaltext of JLPs．...