A Hybridity Study On The Translation Of Vulgarisms In Shui Hu Zhuan

Owing to its rudeness and impoliteness, vulgarism and its translationstudy have been under a cloud for a long time. Yet vulgarism is a specialcomponent of language. To a certain extent, it reflects the world view andmode of thinking of a nation, thus it is a mirror of understanding the languageand cultural characteristics of the nation. The translation of the Chinesevulgarisms in literature is of great importance, which directly influences theforeign readers’ understanding of original work and Chinese culture. As anintermediary of cross-cultural communication, the process of translation ismore than a code conversion of linguistic symbols, but importantly anexchange and dialogue between source language culture and target languageculture. The hybridity is a unique heterozygote with a variety of linguistic andcultural characteristics resulting from the exchange and collision between different languages and cultures. So the translation is indispensable tohybridity in the process of bridging the cultural differences and heterogeneity,which makes versions load with characteristics of two languages and cultures.This thesis adopts the methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis,intending to do a research on the translation of vulgarisms in Chineseclassical literature Shui Hu Zhuan from the perspective of hybriditytranslation, based on the translated texts by Buck and Shapiro. The study hasfound that Buck chooses foreignization as a major strategy and domesticationas a relatively minor supplement to her translation. While Shapiro keeps abalance between these two strategies. Their versions are all hybrid texts indifferent degrees. Buck strives to follow the original expressions, sentencepattern and word order thereby retaining Chinese culture and linguisticcharacteristics in her English version. She introduces abundant heterogeneouselements into the translated text, which makes her version with a remarkablehybrid characteristic. These heterogeneous elements are different fromEnglish language style and seems unusual or strange to English culture,however, it is not the consequence of lacking translational competence or an instance of translationese, but an evidence of conscious and deliberatedecisions by the translator. Buck’s translation brings the target readers anovel reading experience and literary appreciation caused bydefamiliarization. Readers may have to pay more efforts to the understandingof the connotation of the original, but they would obtain an additionalcontextual effect and experience a different reading taste and aestheticpleasure. Although Shapiro’s translation of vulgarisms also displays a distincthybridity, compared with Buck, he removes the potential comprehensionbarriers for English readers by making the translated text more similar toEnglish language linguistically and culturally, which makes his version morefluent and accessible by target readers. Therefore, Buck’s translations show ahigher degree of hybridity than Shapiro’s and her hybrid translated textsuccessfully constructs “a third space”, in which the communication andmutual infiltration between Chinese and English cultures is available.In conclusion, for the translation of vulgarisms, the hybridity is inevitableand necessary in language culture and translation strategies. The hybridity notonly promotes the understanding and absorption of the target language to the heterogenous culture, but also retains more heterogeneous culture language,spreading heterogenous culture and thereby enriches the target culture.Therefore, the theory of hybridity translation is of a viable guidingsignificance to the Chinese-foreign exchange especially the diffusion ofChinese culture.