A Comparative Study Of The Translation Of Fuzziness In The Two Versions Of Hong Lou Meng

Fuzziness is an inherent characteristic of language. Fuzzy language, which leaves much space for readers' imagination, is an ideal carrier for literary works. As a masterpiece of Chinese literature, Hong Lou Meng abounds with many fuzzy expressions, which pose a great challenge to translators.If the fuzzy beauty fails to transfer in translation, it will not only ruin the original artistic and aesthetic value, but also be a great loss to the original work and the target language readers. Therefore, proper translations of them are of great significance to spread Chinese culture and promote cultural exchange between China and the other parts of the world.The present study is a comparative study of the translation of fuzziness in the two English versions of Hong Lou Meng. Unlike most of the previous studies, all the findings of this study are obtained from the investigation of the corpus. After reading the novel, the author selects 130 examples which include typical fuzzy expressions, and classifies them into six large categories, namely, fuzziness in physical appearance, fuzziness in personality, fuzziness in scenes, fuzziness in religion, fuzziness in medicine and fuzziness in sex. And three research methods will be adopted, namely, corpus-driven approach, comparative study and induction.Altogether there are five chapters in this thesis. Part one is the introduction of the whole thesis, including the research background, significance of the study and research questions. Part two is literature review of the research on fuzziness. A brief review of previous studies of the two English versions is also provided. Part three reports the methodology and data collection for this thesis. Part four gives a comprehensive analysis of the translation of fuzziness in the Yangs'and Hawkes'versions and presents the research findings. Part five discusses the limitations of the present study as well as the suggestions for further research.After the comparative analysis of the six categories of fuzziness, the author finds out that Hawkes intends to let his English readers have a good taste of the subtlety and beauty of the original text by emphasizing on both the form and content, as can be seen from his translation of the fuzziness in appearance, personality and scenes. In addition, Hawkes naturalizes the cultural divergence and resolves some puzzling elements when it comes to the translation of fuzziness in religion, medicine and sex. Therefore, his version turns out to be more comprehensible and acceptable to English readers. The Yangs, however, only convey the implied meaning of the original text and in most cases, discard the metaphorical images in their translation of the fuzziness in appearance, personality and scenes. As for the translation of fuzziness in religion, medicine and sex, the Yangs retain images in some examples to satisfy the English readers' psychology of seeking novelty. Though it is close to the surface meaning of the original, it can not be easily understood by English readers. The analysis shows clearly that in the translation of fuzziness, the original meaning is the most important. Translators are supposed to seek for the transfer of spirit and style of the original work on the basis of correctly transmitting the original meaning. In addition, translators have to take in to consideration the target readers' perceptive and receptive capability to make sure that the translated work will not beyond readers' reach or cause cultural misunderstanding.Although this thesis only conducts a comparative study of six categories of fuzziness in Hong Lou Meng, the author hopes that it can help us have a better understanding of the Yangs'and Hawkes'translation practice, serving as a revelation so that others may come up with more valuable research and ideas. It is also hoped that people could acquire useful information and guidance from this thesis, thus to make their C-E translation of fuzziness more fulfilling and easier.