Construction Of Chinese Cultural Identity In English Version Of Wolf Totem Based Upon The "Third Space"Theory

Lang Tuteng, written by Jiang Rong, is a long novel focusing on Mongolian wolves. It describes theexperiences of the hero Chenzhen, a student from Beijing living in the Olonbulag of the Inner Mongoliaduring1960s and1970s. Through the descriptions of natural scenery and wolves on Mongolian grassland,the author vividly reproduces the spiritual totem of the nomadic groups on the pasture and shows hisrespect and appreciation to the wolf totem. The narration and comparison of the traditional Chinese farmingculture and the nomadic culture on the grassland make this novel a splendid “cultural dish”. Since its firstpublish in2004, this novel has shocked the world and has been attracting great many fans. The Englishversion Wolf Totem was published in2008, and it was translated by the greatest American sinologistHoward Goldblatt. Thanks to Goldblatt’s outstanding translation, this novel was awarded the First ManAsian Literary Prize. Goldblatt has translated a great number of Chinese literature works into English,among which his successful translation of Mo Yan’s works has already helped this most prestigious writerin contemporary China win the Nobel Prize in literature in2012, opening a new era for Chinese literaturefield.The “third space” theory was put forward by Homi K. Bhabha in1994during his study ofcross-cultural communication. Within the post-colonial context, the Western dominant culture attempts tomake cultural colonization over the marginal culture, while the marginal culture is pursuing culturalequality and trying to construct its own cultural identity. The “third space theory” provides the dominantand marginal cultures with a platform where the original cultural features can be reserved through hybridity,foreignization and other strategies, and finally the construction of cultural identity will be realized.Within the framework of “third space” theory, this thesis selects the culture-loaded expressions andmakes comparison and analysis, and further studies the construction of Chinese cultural identity. First, thethesis treats the current situation of cultural communication in the post-colonial context, and it is concludedthat it is necessary and critical to construct the cultural identity of the marginal culture. Then based uponthe definition of cultural identity proposed by Zhang Yuhe and Qian Linsen, a case study is carried out, and100examples of culture-loaded words are selected from the following5aspects, i.e. value system,language system, family system, basic necessities of life and spirit world. In order to reserve the Chinesecultural features and construct Chinese cultural identity, Goldblatt focuses on the “third space”, andemploys the strategies such as hybridity, foreignization, free translation with notes and transliteration during the translation of culture-loaded expressions.The successful translation of Wolf Totem within the framework of the “third space” theory sets a goodexample for other translators while facing culture translation, and meanwhile it plays an important role forthe construction of Chinese cultural identity. However, the construction of Chinese cultural identity shouldnever be limited to the translation of Chinese literature works, and on the contrary the “third space” theoryshould be applied to every aspect that is related to cultural communication so as to set up an all-roundcultural identity.