A Case Study Of Application Of Thick Translation In Hawkes' Translation Of The Song Of The South From The Perspective Of Interpretive Anthropology

With the acceleration of globalization,improving cultural soft power of China has become a significant factor in enhancing an overall national strength.Translation,especially Chinese-English one,has gotten surging attention at the stage of promoting translations of Chinese literature going to the outside world.Chu ci is a glorious treasure in China,and it has attracted many readers at home and abroad.The past two hundred years have witnessed various translations of Chu ci,which has played an important role in spreading Chinese culture.Based on interpretive anthropology put forward by Clifford Geertz and thick translation by Kwame A.Appiah,this thesis attempts to conduct a study of thick translation through a case study of David Hawkes' English translation of Chu ci--The Songs of the South.In this thesis,methods of literature review,descriptive translation studies and case study are adopted to explore the relationship between interpretive anthropology and translation as well as the application of interpretive anthropology in translation studies,and probe into manifestations of thick translation in Hawkes' translation of Chu ci as well as influences of thick translation.After a detailed text analysis,it is discovered that there are four manifestations in Hawkes' translation,including a preface,introductions,annotations,and appendixes.Paramount attention has been paid to notes which are further discussed in different categories.As a translation strategy,thick translation works better in the view of cultural restoration and locates the translated text in a rich cultural and linguistic context.Additionally,it can compensate for cultural reduction or omission of the original,facilitate readers' comprehension and acceptance of the translation,and promote dissemination of cultures.This research on the other hand shows that as a valuable strategy in literary translation,thick translation is significant for the dissemination of classic Chinese literature and culture,and,however,thick translation has some limitations concerning the proportion of thickness.