On The Application Of Strategy Of Foreignization In The Translation Of Novels

In translation, particularly in literary translation, cultural difference between two languages is an unavoidable problem for translators. The ways dealing with cultural differences can be reduced to two categories:foreignization and domestication. Both the two methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. Translators need to consider which method they can take when doing translation.When I was translating George Silverman’s Explanation written by British famous writer Charles Dickens, I tried many translation methods, and found the theory of foreignization more helpful. However, not all problems can be solved by the theory of foreignization. Many problems would appear if I use only one method in my translation practice. Therefore, on one hand, I adopted the strategy of foreignization to guide my translation, retaining the source language’s cultural characteristics by literal translation; on the other hand, I tried to make up foreignization strategy’s defect by maintaining the translation’s fluency and adding notes to explain the foreign cultural elements in translation. I hope to find a translation strategy of combining foreignization and domestication through my practice.