| The thesis is intended to analyze, with a case study, strategies used by Zhang Zhenyu in translating Lin Yutang’s English novel Moment in Peking. Based on findings of this case study, this thesis summarizes compares and reflects on the different tenets relevant to the notions of domestication and foreignization found in both Chinese and Western streams of translation studies, with an aim of analyzing the translation technique of Zhang Zhenyu’s Chinese version of Moment in Peking.Translation boasts of a long history. Since the20th century, especially after the Second World War, with the quick development of translation activities both at home and abroad, scholars have paid more attention to translation; hence, the research on translation theories has made considerable development. Meanwhile, translation studies, independent from Applied Linguistic and Comparative Literature, has become an independent discipline.Domestication and foreignization theories have always been the focus of translation studies. In the western countries, the two translation theories stem from word-for-word translation (or literal translation) and sense-for-sense translation (or free translation), later Schleiermacher put forward the theory of either the translator makes the reader move toward the writer or he makes the translator move toward the reader. Finally, influenced by Schleiermacher, Venuti defines domestication and foreignization in his book The Translator’s Invisibility-A History of Translation.Discussions on domestication and foreignization also have a long history in China. The debate could be dated back to Han dynasty in which the controversy was on "Wen" and "Zhi" translations in translating Buddhist Scriptures. The notions of "Zhi" and "Wen" then are the "literal" and "free" translations of modern times. From the1920s to the1930s, scholars like Lu Xun advocated literal translation while others, represented by Liang Shiqiu insisted on free translation, which was another debate in the field of Chinese translation circles. In1987, the publication of Liu Yingkai’s article, Domestication-the Wrong Track of Translation, shook the position of the main stream of domestication translation in the translation field.Some scholars hold that domestication translation is free translation while foreignization translation refers to literal translation, which is strongly criticized by scholars from home and abroad. Domestication and foreignization are the extension of free translation and literal translation, but not completely equal to them. The author’s curiosity in domestication and foreignization theories is thus triggered. Through a case study on Zhang Zhenyu’s translation version of Moment in Peking, the author finds that the translator translates the novel mainly with the strategy of domestication. Although the strategy of foreignization is adopted in translating some persons’names, on the whole, the domestication strategy is dominant.After analyzing the translation strategies used by Zhang Zhenyu from the perspective of the table of contents of the novel, name of the novel, names of people, name of places, proper nouns, proverbs and dialogues, the author concludes that it is hard to create a good translation version with only one translation strategy; a good translation version deserves the combination of both domestication and foreignization strategies; meanwhile, special situations should be taken into account. Moment in Peking is an English novel written by a Chinese writer, so it is very likely to be under the influence of the Chinese language. Therefore, Moment in Peking should be translated flexibly with special treatments.The author of this thesis attempts, with a case study of Moment in Peking and its translation version in light of the strategies of domestication and foreignization, to discuss the guiding role of the two translation strategies in translation, hoping to give an insight into the translation practice featuring domestication and foreignization in the Chinese context. |
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