A Study On The Translation Of Color Word "Hong" In The Two English Versions Of Hong Lou Meng From Relevance Translation Theory

Hong Lou Meng is the peak of Chinese classical novel and is also a pearl in theworld literary history. The first eighty chapters of Hong Lou Meng were written byCao Xueqin, who is not only a novelist but also a great painter. He applied theartistic techniques of color in the language of the novel, by means of utilizing theskills of dyeing according to the features of the object in the characterization offigures and description of surroundings, which assists in the development of the plotand theme of the novel. In Hong Lou Meng, Hong, the most significant color, isprofoundly culture-loaded and is endowed with various symbolic meanings by theauthor.The translation of color words is inevitably involved in the translation of literaryworks, which poses great challenge for translators to transfer the aesthetic value,cultural connotations and the communicative intention of the original author. Thetwo widely-accepted English versions of Hong Lou Meng, which are titled The Storyof the Stone and A Dream of Red Mansions, were translated by David Hawkes&John Minford and Yang Xianyi&his wife Gladys Yang respectively. The previousstudies on the translation of color words in these two versions focused on thecomparative studies of translating strategies of color words as a whole in the novel.However, few studies have been conducted on the translation of certain color word.The thesis selects the most significant color word Hong occurring in the first eightychapters as the source text and analyzes the translating process of the two groups oftranslators from the perspective of cultural translation under the guidance ofRelevance Theory to explore the application of relevance translation theory intocultural translation and the factors affecting the choice of translating strategies.The thesis combines the building of theory with the analysis of concreteexamples. The thesis, in the first place, expounds on the application of relevancetranslation theory into cultural translation. Following this, the comparative analysisof the translation of Hong in the two versions is carried out. Based on the analysis and the four variables affecting the translator’s choice of strategies proposed byFranco Aixelas (2007), the author attempts to explore the factors lying behind thedifferent translating strategies of the translators, namely supra-textual parameter andintra-textual parameter.This thesis has successfully applied the Relevance Theory into culturaltranslation, which is of theoretical significance. Meanwhile, the thesis may help usknow more about Chinese Hong and the charm of Hong Lou Meng.