A Study Of Lin Yutang’s Translation Of Chinese Culture In My Country And My People From The Perspective Of Reception Aesthetics

Reception aesthetics is a literary theory founded on the base of phenomenology and hermeneutics, which advocates the focus of literary study should shift from "text-oriented" to "reader-oriented" and concentrates on reader’s reception and his or her constructive role in the production of the literary work. As a literary form, translation studies should also consider readers’influence on the literary text. Yet being dominated by the "source-language-centered" theories, translation studies have long been focusing on the translatability of the source text and the readability of the target text. The introduction of the reception aesthetics provides a new perspective for translation and inspires translators to consider reader’s reception of the target text, or "horizon of expectation", for the purpose of reaching "fusion of horizon"Lin Yutang’s masterpiece My Country and My People aims to introduce Chinese culture to the West and it covers many aspects of Chinese culture, including some culture-loaded words and idioms. In the book, Lin translates the culture-loaded words and expressions faithfully and vividly, unfolding a picturesque world of Chinese culture which is widely accepted by westerners.After giving a brief introduction to several important concepts of reception aesthetics, this thesis summarizes its enlightenment on translation and gives a systematic analysis of culture translation cases in the book My Country and My People from the aspects of the "implied reader","horizon of expectation" and "fusion of horizon". This thesis points out that the target reader plays an important role in translation. The purpose of translation is to reach the fusion of horizon between the target reader’s horizon of expectation and that of the original text. It is required that in culture translation, the translator should firstly consider the target reader’s receptivity so that the target text can be adequately accepted. Secondly, the translator should pay attention to the "indeterminacy" of the original text in translation process, which means the readers should be left with sufficient room for their own imagination so that they can get pleasure in reading and the value of the target text can be realized. Under the backdrop of multi-cultures, it is essential for translators to be guided by the communicative purpose between nations and think adequately about the reader’s role and their reception in the creation of the target text in translation process, instead of just being confined by the text.