Problems And Solutions:the Translation Of Junzi From The Perspective Of Philosophical Hermeneutics

Junzi is one of the important culture-loaded words with high frequency. By analyzing the versions of Junzi in classics and published academic papers, we can find that there are more than 30 translation versions of Junzi. It is of significance to study its translation problems and solutions for transmitting the Chinese culture.Translation is a recreation of a text that is guided by the way the translator understands what is said in the original text. And understanding is of historicity and general possibility. Therefore, this thesis uses the historicity of understanding and the fusion of horizons in Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics to explore the connotations of Junzi by considering its historical horizon, and to analyze the problems, causes and solutions of Junzi’s translation. It aims to offer some guidance to the translation of the culture-loaded words in Chinese classics.The research finds that the following two problems mainly exist in Junz’s translation:(1) over-generalization caused by neglecting the connotational diversity in a macro-historical horizon; (2) mismatching among specific connotations caused by ignoring the connotational diversity in a micro-discoursal horizon. From the perspective of philosophical hermeneutics,the following solutions have been offered: (1) In order to avoid over-generalization, we should transmit macro-cultural concept with a superordinate term from the macro-historical horizon; specific techniques include transliteration, explanation in translator’s preface and creative translation. (2) In order to avoid mismatching among specific connotations, we should determine the hyponym connotations in specific contexts from the micro-discoursal horizon; specific techniques include transliteration plus annotation and liberal translation plus annotation.