Cultural Default In Literary Translation:from The Perspective Of Reception Theory

In translation studies, cultural default is a unique cultural phenomenon which lies in the middle area and plays an important role in the translation of culture-related issues. It not only represents the aesthetic value of literary works but also plays an essential role in making the text deliver in a more coherent way because the author’s intentions are silently but purposefully implanted in it.Reception theory, the reader-oriented critical realm gives much enlightenment on translation studies. It requires translators to guarantee target readers’active participation in the reading process by using translation strategies to "shift their horizons of expectation" or to "expand their fore-structures" as far as translation of cultural default is concerned.In the present thesis, the present author will focus on cultural default in literary translation by discussing the most frequently employed strategies translators choose in translating cultural default, and discuss the generally two kinds of effects achieved respectively, namely cultural transposition and maintaining exoticism, and analyze both the external and internal reasons which determine translators’usage of different approaches in translating cultural default. Further more, the present author will focus on compensational strategies for translating cultural default, and will finally come to the conclusion that explicitation and annotation method in translation can enable target readers to feel the exoticism of foreign culture, and expand their "fore-structures" by providing them with necessary background knowledge, which can relieve target readers’cognitive burden of understanding the intention of the original author and thus is essential for them to have smooth conversation with the text and the original author.