On Folklore Translation In Two Chinese Versions Of Moment In Peking From The Perspective Of Adaptation Theory

Moment in Peking was written by Lin Yutang in English during his stay in Paris from1938to1939. Lin was very active in the popularization of classical Chinese literature inthe West, as well as vigorous with the general Chinese attitude towards life. His bookstherefore represent an attempt to bridge the cultural gap between the East and the West,thus Moment in Peking being so far the most famous one, in which a panoramic andsilhouette magnificent picture of Chinese folklore is presented to the whole world. Thenovel was translated first by Zhang Zhenyu and later by Yu Fei in succession. Manyscholars study macro-aspects of cultural translation in Zhang’s version, but most of themfail to focus on the micro-aspects of culture in the two versions, especially on folkloretranslation. Chinese folklore, an integral part of traditional Chinese culture, has formed adistinctive style of its own over the centuries. Colorful folklore opens an essential windowto introduce Chinese culture to the world. In this sense, folklore translation is not onlyacademically valuable to the translation field, but also actually significant to cross-culturetransmission. Therefore, in accordance with the categorization of folklore made by a mostfamous Chinese folklorist, Zhong Jingwen, re-categorization is made on the Chinesefolklore in Moment in Peking and attempt on comparing the folklore translations in thetwo versions of the novel are underway from the perspective of Adaptation Theory.According to Verschueren, the core of Adaptation Theory is that language use is adynamic process of continuous choice-making and adaptation. The three core concepts ofthe theory are variability, negotiability and adaptability. Its four angles of investigationsare: contextual correlates of adaptability, structural objects of adaptability, dynamics ofadaptability and salience of the adaptation processes. Translation is a complicated processof language use. In the whole process of translation, translator and his or her strategies areinfluenced by the factors both inside and outside of language and makes appropriatechoices. Therefore, translation is a process of continuous choice-making at various levels.In this sense, Adaptation Theory is employed to analyze how the two translators make dynamic adaptations and ultimate choices to folklore translations to testify the explanatorypower of Adaptation Theory for folklore translation and to offer a new approach towardsliterature translation.The thesis is composed of six chapters. Chapter one is the introduction whichdiscusses the research background, the purposes and significance of the research. Chaptertwo gives a brief introduction to Moment in Peking and its two Chinese versions, a briefintroduction to Lin Yutang and his language features, two versions’ language features arealso included, as well as some previous studies on the translation. Chapter three is aboutfolklore and its translation, and folklore categorization in Moment in Peking. Chapter fourgives a description of Adaptation Theory, and presents that translation is a process ofchoice-making and adaptation. Chapter five compares folklore translations in the twoversions of Moment in Peking from the perspective of Adaptation Theory and analyzeshow the two translators make dynamic adaptations and ultimate choices to folkloretranslations. Chapter six is the conclusion which demonstrates the main findings andlimitations of the thesis.Based on the folklore translation comparison from the perspective of AdaptationTheory, the thesis proves that as an important aspect of culture, folklore translation in eachversion is a process of language shift and culture transmission in which translatorscontinuously make dynamic adaptations under the cross-culture purpose, and thereforeAdaptation Theory has strong explanatory power for folklore translation.