On Translation Of Culture-loaded Words And Expressions In Moment In Pekingand Its Back-translation Versions From Perspective Of Skopos Theory

Since its publication in1940, Moment in Peking has achieved wide reputationamong western readers. With a writing purpose of introducing Chinese culture to thewestern world, this novel depicted an authentic panorama of the Chinese society andlife. The author Lin Yutang, as a Chinese scholar, composed this novel in English.Therefore, it is fair to consider the writing process as a special kind of translation.Language, as an important and indispensable part of culture, serves as the carrierof cultural transfer. As the smallest unit of a language, vocabulary is one componentthat could reflect a culture most lively and actively. With differences between cultures,some words and expressions are unique to their culture and are embodied with richcultural connotations. They are defined as culture-loaded words and expressions. Witha writing purpose of presenting Chinese culture to western readers, Lin Yutangadopted a large number of culture-loaded words and expressions in Moment inPeking.With cultural differences between the Chinese and the Western world, someculture-loaded words and expressions are unique to Chinese culture and do not havean equivalent in English. Lin Yutang adopted different translation strategies for thesewords and expressions that not only maintained the culture but facilitated westernreaders to understand. From the perspective of Skopos Theory, this thesis analyzes thewriting purpose of Moment in Peking and discusses the translation strategies Linadopted for culture-loaded words and expressions and his flexible approachesbetween foreignization and domestication. Together with a research on differentback-translation purposes and strategies by Zhang Zhenyu and Yu Dafu, the authortries to find out a general and efficient way for future translation of culture-loadedwords and expressions.