Translation Strategies Of Science Fiction Guided By The Reception Theory

Though science fiction has existed in China for more than 100 years, it develops very slowly. Studies on science fiction are mainly about the history of science fiction and there are few about the translation of science fiction. Whereas the translation of science fiction is vital to its development around the world, the author chose a science fiction novel as the translation project and intended to find out the specific translation strategies through analyzing this chosen text.As to the translation of science fiction, which is a special form of literature, readers are the first factor for the translator to consider. Reception Theory, developed by Hans Robert Jauss(1967) and Wolfgang Iser(1969), attaches great importance to the role of readers. It emphasizes that the value of literature is created by readers. After this theory is put forward, literature research turns its focus from author or text to readers. Under the guidance of Reception Theory, this article discusses what strategies translators should follow when translating science fiction novels.The chosen text is part of the novel-Ancillary Justice, which won the Hugo Award and Nebula Award. When translating it into Chinese, the author comes across a large number of terms which are typical of the extraordinary imagination of science fiction, such as names of places and names of devices, and also a lot of long sentences which are difficult for readers to understand. Therefore, the author refers to Reception Theory and summarizes some translation strategies guided by this theory. After applying these strategies in the translation practice, the author makes it clear what translators should do in translating science fiction novels from four aspects. And the author hopes that the translation strategies discussed in the article can provide a method for other translators to follow when they translate science fiction novels.