On Translation Of Cultural Images In Tess Of The D’urbervilles

Cultural image is a kind of cultural symbol, generated over time in the history a certain nation which contains rich and unique cultural connotations. It is often the crystallization of the history, wisdom and culture of a nation. In recent years, the transmission of cultural element in translation received more and more attention by the scholars of translation studies. It is the responsibility of translators to convey the cultural information as much as possible. However, due to the cultural differences between nations in all aspects, there are many discrepancies in the cultural images of different nations, such as vacancy and distortion, which become obstacles and challenges for translators. By analyzing the cultural images in Tess of the D’Urbervilles and the methods used to translate them by three Chinese translators, this thesis attempt to examine the application of different methods in translating cultural images and evaluate their effectiveness, in order to provide translators with some help in their method selection.Chapter One is the literature review on the studies on cultural images in Tess of the D’Urbervilles and on translation of cultural images. Chapter Two deals with the definition of cultural image and the significance and obstacles in its translation, and also analyzes the four categories of cultural images in Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Chapter Three chooses three Chinese versions to analyze the translating methods. The author also discusses the translation of cultural images from the perspectives of foreignization and domestication, as well as polysystem theory.