A Study On Foreignization And Domestication From Perspective Of Cultural Images Translation In Chinese Classical Poetry

Chinese culture is brilliant and marvelous with five thousand years accumulation.Chinese classical poetry has always been the hot topic of the research of Chinesepoetic, literature and literary theory. With the rapid development of China andtendency of globalization, the research on Chinese classical poetry also becomes oneof the hot research points in translation research. And the cultural images that hiddenbehind it has become the key and difficult point since the end of1990s. How to bettertranslate the cultural images in Chinese classical poetry to promote thecommunication and exchange between different cultures? Different scholars havedifferent viewpoints, and it becomes one of the most controversial topics in translationfield.On the choice of translation strategy, foreignization and domestication are thetwo different strategies that are commonly chosen. Foreignization is closer to sourcelanguage, aiming at maintaining the original flavor and foreignness of the source textto the largest extend. It is a source-language-oriented strategy. On the contrary,domestication is closer to target language. It is easy for target readers to understandand read fluently. It is a target-language-oriented strategy. The two strategies bothhave their features and value as well as advantages and disadvantages. Translatorsshould not put emphasis on one of them and neglect the other. They should bethoroughly discussed and studied. In recent years, many scholars have come up with anew concept called hybridity, which means to hybrid foreignization and domesticationin translation. It can perfect the translation as well as reconcile the dispute betweenthe two strategies. The essay firstly introduces the research background and current situation of thecultural image research and points out the importance and significance of culturalimage. And then the two translation strategies, foreignization and domestication, aswell as the new concept hybridity which is the combination of foreignization anddomestication are pointed out. On the hot controversy over the two strategies, theauthor analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of them in translation practice. Theauthor believes that in order to preserve the true flavor and foreignness of the sourcetext and to protect the target readers· feeling at the same time, the combination of thetwo is the final solution. That is the hybridity theory the author advocates.Foreignization and domestication are the contradictory concepts, but there is the closerelationship between them. The essay finally takes the great Chinese anthology TheBook of Songs as the case study. According to comparatively analysis of the fourversions of the two famous poems 《关雎》 and 《è'¹è‘­ã€‹ and other famous lines, thefinal conclusion is drawn: neither foreignization nor domestication should beexclusively used in cultural image translation of The Book of Songs, and the mosteffective and scientific way to adopt is to combine the two together. That is to adoptthe new concept: hybridity.To sum up, the author believes that in cultural image translation of the Chineseclassical poetry, foreignization and domestication both have their special and uniquemission in source language and target language. Therefore, their existence ismeaningful and valuable. At the same time, they also have their inevitabledisadvantages. To strengthen the cultural communication and exchange betweeneastern and western, the concept of hybridity should be tightly and organicallycombined.