Resistant Translation Of Culture-loaded Words In Beijng Dialect

Traditional translation studies view translation as a linguistic transfer,relishing the comparison between the target text and the source text totestify the fidelity of the translation. However, with the rapiddevelopment of economic globalization and frequent cross-culturalcommunication, especially since the 1970s, a shift from linguistic tocultural approach has appeared in the West translation studies, theresearch of which has, up to now, extended to such issues as society,politics, and ideology, etc. Therefore, the translation theorists have begunto seek new theories to support the development of translation theory,among which culture-oriented schools of translation theory study shouldbe the most influential. Under such academic background, the Italian-American scholar Lawrence Venuti puts forward“resistant translation”approach under the postcolonial context.The postcolonial translation theorists represented by Venuti paymore attention to the historical conditions and power operations hiddenbehind target texts. They hold that there does exist power differencesbetween“strong cultures”and“weak cultures”and translation activitiesseldom involve an equal relationship between them. The strong culturetends to ignore the weak culture and its texts, and adopts the strongattitude in choosing text and translation strategy. Therefore, they cater tothe expectation of their own needs at the expense of the foreign culturalelements.Serving as the important carrier of source culture, culture-loadedwords and dialects are significant aspects in the translation of literary works. Up to now, a lot of researches have been conducted about thetranslation of Chinese culture-loaded words and dialect into English bymany scholars and translators. Culture-loaded words and dialect containspecific cultural information. They are the most sensitive language itemsand direct reflection of a nation’s history and unique cultures. Therefore,in dealing with the translation of these words, the author of this thesisholds that many factors such as translation purpose, cultural differences,translators’attitudes towards the two cultures and readers’culturalbackground should be taken into consideration and that, to sum up,“resistant translation”should be given first priority in translation process.This thesis, taking Shi Xiaojing’s translated version of CamelXiangzi as a case study, analyzes resistant translation on Chineseculture-loaded words and Beijing dialect and its functions, and besides,the thesis makes a further study on the influence and effects of resistanttranslation strategy under the context of globalization.The main part of this thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter Onebriefly introduces the theoretical basis of resistant translation and makesa narration on the study situation of this theory in domestic and foreignacademia. It is unanimously agreed that Venuti’s resistant translationtheory shows the respect and protection for the diversity and differenceamong all culture. Chapter Two mainly gives introduction toculture-loaded words and dialect from their definition and classification.Both culture-loaded words and dialect are the carriers of national culture,and translation, as the medium to bridge the unequal culturalrelationship, is an effective tool to fight against cultural hegemonism.Therefore, during the process of cultural communication and exchanges,culture-loaded words and dialect have inseparable relation with translation. The Third Chapter is the core of this thesis. Firstly, it brieflyintroduces the original works and translated works. Then, itcomprehensively elaborates the resistant translation on theculture-loaded items and dialect in the English version by analyzing therender’s translation strategy and her dealing with the specific words.Finally, the function and the influence of translation are discussed fromthe cultural perspective. Besides, the author also tries to make someadded discussion about resistant translation strategy applied in Shi’sversion beyond the culture-related lexical level. Through analysis, it isconcluded that Shi’s translation strategy not only successfully re-appearsChina’s culture in the translated text and conveys China’s culture spirit,but also plays the guiding role for future translation of literary works.Chapter Four is the additional comments on resistant translation. In thispart, the author states that although resistant translation can play apositive role in the dissemination of Chinese culture, it cannot be used inall cases; otherwise, it is easy to breed cultural narcissism andethnocentrism. To realize cultural co-prosperity, domesticatingtranslation should be adopted as a supplementary. Only in this way canwe absorb the essence of otherness and enhance mutual understanding torealize cross-cultural communication.