Reproduction Of Defamiliarization From The Perspective Of Thick Translation

Defamiliarization as a literary creation technique was proposed by the RussianFormalist Shklovsky. With the impediment of language, procrastination of structure andcreative deformation, defamiliarization technique disrupts the habitualized and automatizedperception of the readers, so as to increases the difficulty of perception and slows down theperceptual process; and its aesthetic effect of heterogeneity brings about the aesthetic tensionon the readers and expands their aesthetic space. Scholars of Early Translation Study Schoolsuch as Levy and Popovic held that defamiliarization should be reproduced in translation,which led defamiliarization into the realm of translation study. Thick Translation wasadvanced by the American culture scholar Appiah enlightened by the InterpretativeAnthropology. The theory focuses on the cultural distinctions and advocates that the targettext should be located in a rich cultural and linguistic context through the translator’sreinterpretation, which enhances the reader’s understanding of and respect for the otherculture. This thesis is to investigate the elucidation of the defamiliarization reproduction withThick Translation.Through the methods of literature review and descriptive study, firstly, the researches indefamiliarization and Thick Translation at home and abroad are reviewed, and the argumentthat Thick Translation gives guidance to the reproduction of defamiliarization is put forward.Secondly, the artistic procedures and aesthetic effects of defamiliarization technique areprobed, and the three theoretic essences—the emphasis on the cultural heterogeneity, theexertion of translator’s subjectivity and the reconstruction of the cultural context of ThickTranslation are discussed. Lastly, the reproduction of defamiliarization from the perspectiveof Thick Translation is elucidated, and the guidance of Thick Translation on the reproductionof defamiliarization at the linguistic and cultural level is further analyzed.It’s proposed that from the perspective of Thick Translation, the translator emphasizesand understands the cultural distinctions embodied in defamiliarization and by the translator’ssubjectivity, the cultural context is reconstructed, which is helpful in flaunting the cultural heterogeneity, gives the target readers an opportunity to perceive the aesthetic tension ofdefamiliarization and expands the aesthetic space.