A Comparative Study On The E-C Translation Versions Of Patterns Of Culture Under Memetics

Memetics,derived from Darwin’s theory of evolution,is proposed to explain the process of cultural transmission or information reproduction,with meme as its core concept.Under this theory,translation activities can be viewed as a process of "copy" in which the translator reproduces and encodes source language memes into the meme pool of target language.In this thesis,a comparative study of E-C translation versions of Patterns of Culture is carried out from the perspective of memetics in order to find out strong memes for better transmission,to make a closer connection between memetics and translation practice as well as to provide humble enlightenment for probing the optimization of translation strategies and techniques.In this thesis,the combined research methods of quality and quantity are used to make a case study of FLTRP(Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press)version and Sanlian Bookstore version,embodying three specific research techniques:literature research method,statistical analysis method,comparative analysis method.Firstly,choices of translation strategies and techniques(choices of copy modes)employed in two E-C translation versions of Patterns of Cultureare analyzed and compared from two levels of terms and long complex sentences according to Andrew Chesterman’s theory of translation strategy.Secondly,how the employment of different translation strategies and techniques in the two versions influences the translation effect is explored in view of Heylighen Francis’s general selection criteria for memes to find out optimized translation strategies and techniques by which original meme complexes can be copied syntactically,semantically and pragmatically to the greatest extent.Through the comparative study,it can be concluded that FLTRP version is more faithful,exact,readable and consistent with the text type of original language memes,thereby conforming more to three criteria of formality,coherence and self-justification,possibly contributing more to its duplication and infiltration in target language culture,as a strong meme.For Sanlian Bookstore version,it is relatively colloquial and domesticating,beneficial to readers’interest and comprehension.Hence,most of this version conforms to the criterion of coherence.However,in translating some long and complex sentences,grammatical relationships among complicated components are mixed,leading to a comparatively tedious Chinese version with some mistranslation.Besides,it is not totally accurate in dealing with some terms and polysemous words out of the restriction of times and reference channels.So this version does not perfectly abide by the criteria of formality and self-justification.At the same time,translation strategies and techniques employed in versions of strong memes are also summarized taking account into the three standards,for instance,it is of primary importance to observe the criterion of formality by faithfully encoding the original meme complexes and transmitting their components,consisting of syntactic memes,semantic memes and pragmatic memes,into target language readers as intact as possible;in view of coherence,translated memes should be accordant with the established cognition of readers,by appropriately using the technique of hyponymy of the semantic strategy or sentence structure change of the syntactic strategy.