A Study On Pun Translation In Two English Versions Of Hong Lou Meng

As one of the figures of speech, pun can be regarded as an epitome of culture and languages in many countries. Pun translation is always the hard stone in the field of translation. Hong Lou Meng almost covers all the cream of Chinese ancient culture and language. The colorful and abundant puns in Hong Lou Meng are great source for the study of pun translation.This thesis studies the strategies and methods for pun translation on the basis of two English versions of Hong Lou Meng. One is A Dream of Red Mansions translated by the couple of Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang and the other is The Story of the Stone translated by David Hawkes and his son-in-law John Minford. This thesis focuses on the text analysis of the pun translation in two English versions of Hong Lou Meng in combination with the pun translation theories and strategies put forward by translation theorist Dirk Delabastita. It mainly analyzes the translation of puns in four categories in the novel and summarizes the interaction between translation strategies and translation effect in a descriptive way with reference to the Functional Equivalence Theory of Eugene Nida. The thesis also studies the translation methods and translation ideas in two different versions. And on this basis it puts forward evaluation on the practical value and meaning of different translation strategies.This thesis consists of five chapters. The first chapter is the introduction. This part introduces the research background, objectives and writing methods of the thesis. Chapter two is a basic introduction of pun and pun translation, including the definition, classification and translation strategies of puns. Chapter three is a literature review of pun translation of Hong Lou Meng. This part sums up Dirk Delabastita’s pun translation theory and Nida’s functional equivalence theory as well as previous studies on translations of Hong Lou Meng. Chapter four is the main body of the thesis. It introduces four different categories of puns in Hong Lou Meng according to their context. This chapter also studies the translation strategies for puns in two versions of Hong Lou Meng on the basis of Dirk Delabastita and Nida’s theories by case analysis. In the end it makes a summary of interactional relationships among translation theories, translator’s thoughts, translation strategies as well as translation methods. The last chapter is the conclusion. The thesis points out that each version has its own merits on translation strategies of puns. The translation of puns in the two versions not only embodies Delabastita’s pun translation theory, but also reflects their own characteristics in pun translation methods. From the perspective of functional equivalence theory, the two versions have realized the translation of puns through their own translation strategies and offered the models for the related study. This thesis tries to find the most appropriate integration of the translation strategies in the two versions to make some contributions to the relevant research work in this field. Meanwhile, the thesis hopes this translation principle will play a more effective role in spreading excellent Chinese cultural achievements to the world.