A Study On Translation Of Fuzzy Character-descriptions In Hong Lou Meng From The Perspective Of Translation Aesthetics

Fuzzy language is commonly employed by the Chinese classical novel writers to present characters. It is anticipated to provide unlimited space for readers to create characters in their mind according to their own aesthetic tastes. Hong Lou Meng is the peak of Chinese classical novels. A large number of the fuzzy languages are used to describe the characters in the novel.Fuzzy language translation study is an important branch in translation studies. However,studies on fuzzy character-descriptions translation of this novel are relatively few. Based on the aesthetic translation theory of Liu Miqing, this thesis conducted a fairly detailed and systematic research of the character-descriptions in the original novel as well as its English version translated by Hawkes.Based on Chinese culture and traditional Chinese translation studies, Liu Miqing proposed the aesthetic translation theory. It emphasizes the comprehensive understanding and tasting of aesthetic values of language. In this thesis, the aesthetic values of English and Chinese languages are analyzed in terms of the words, sounds, text structures, as well as the spirit level. Therefore, this theory can serve as a rather valuable guidance for literature translation.Based on this theory and taking the Chapter one to Chapter ten of Hawkes’ s translation as an example, this thesis respectively analyzes the fuzzy character-descriptions from the respect of the aesthetic values of English and Chinese languages. And it aims to answer these questions: How fuzzy character-descriptions have been reproduced in The Story of the Stone translated by Hawkes? What are advantages and disadvantages of Hawkes version in terms of the reproduction of fuzzy character-descriptions from the perspective of translation aesthetics?Research results obtained indicated that Hawkes freely used the aesthetic values of English to reproduce the fuzzy character-descriptions. The proportion of fully reproduced examples is86%. The proportion of non-reproduced examples is 14%. Influenced by different ways of thinking and cultural factors, some of the aesthetic values of the original novel are untranslatable. However, Hawkes tried his best compensated for these. On the basis of a full understanding of the original novel, Hawks boldly recreated some aesthetic value by adding extra information in translation, and abandoned the old information in the original novel. This way of the translation can make western readers better understand the characters in the original novel. Most of aesthetic values of characters are represented. However, some aesthetic values cannot be reproduced. Hawkes translation is more acceptable to the western readers compared with other translation. This study serves as a complement for previous researches of Hong Lou Meng. It will provide some referential values for aesthetic representation in literature translation. Besides, it will have some guiding significance for the exportation of Chinese culture.