A Study On The Translation Of Culture-loaded Words In The Scholars Translated By Yang Xianyi

Since the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy, along with thecontinuing promotion of China’s international status, more and more westerners showkeen interest in the long history and rich culture of China. Study on translating Chineseclassical literary works into English is of growing significance for the strengthening ofthe external exchange of Chinese traditional culture. Probing into the translation ofculture-loaded words and phrases from Chinese classical literary works into English isof practical significance in promoting cross-cultural communication.The research materials in the thesis are selected from the English version of TheScholars translated by the well-known Chinese literary translator, Yang Xianyi and hiswife, Gladys Yang. Written in succinct language, The Scholars by Wu Jingzi depictsthe ugliness, hypocrisy and greediness of various types of scholars in feudal China,satirizes and criticizes the imperial civil service examination system, and exposes thedarkness and decadence of the feudal society. It is a masterpiece of Chinese classicalsatirical literary works, and there are a great many culture-loaded words and phrasesthat are related to many aspects such as ecology, material, society, religion and so on,reflecting the extensive and profound characteristics of Chinese literary works. JefVerschuren, General Secretary of International Pragmatics Association, systematicallyelaborated adaptation theory in Understanding Pragmatics first published in1999.According to adaptation theory, language has three properties, namely variability,negotiability and adaptability, and the process of using language is a process ofmaking language choices. Choices occur at different linguistic levels of language atthe same time, and the choice-making process is either a deliberate or subconsciousact and is driven by both internal linguistic factors (the linguistic context, including alllevels of linguistic form: phonetic, phonological, lexical, syntactic and semanticfactors) and external linguistic factors (the communicative context, consisting of themental world, the social world, the physical world and language users). The authorholds that translating is also a process of continuous choice-making. Therefore, thethesis uses adaptation theory as the theoretical basis and demonstrates that translation is a continuous and dynamic choice-making process. Translating involveschoice-making in the following aspects: information necessary to be conveyed,expressive patterns and forms, translation strategies and so on.In this thesis, the translations of culture-loaded words in The Scholars are studiedand explored from the perspective of adaptation theory by means of comparison andanalysis in an attempt to reveal how strategies change in different linguistic andcommunicative contexts. On the basis of the comparison and analysis, it is found thattranslation strategies applied by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang adapt to the specificlinguistic and communicative contexts of the source texts and the cognitiveenvironment and mental world of the target recipients. Appropriate translation formswere selected in the specific circumstances to convey the denotative and connotativeinformation the source text tries to convey.