Translation Strategies Of Cultural Words In The Sci-fi The Three-Body Problem From The Perspective Of Thick Translation

The sci-fi Santi was published by Chinese writer Liu Cixin in 2006.Ten years later,this book was translated into English with the name The Three-Body Problem by Chinese American translator Ken Liu.In the same year,Liu Cixin was awarded the 2015 Hugo Award for the Best Novel in the 73 rd World Science Fiction Convention,becoming the first Chinese and also the first Asian to win this honor.Thick translation theory was first put forward by Ghanaian-American philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah.This theory places the target text in an enriched context by utilizing such methods as annotations,footnotes and explanatory translations etc.With target readers having more background information available,the communication between the author and target readers can be facilitated.It is also hoped that target readers gain understanding and respect toward the source culture.Though Appiah does not offer concrete translation strategies,he points out a possibility that translators can use different translation strategies within the framework of thick translation theory.The success of The Three-Body Problem raises people's attention to sci-fi and begins to trigger discussions in academia.The development of sci-fi in China is quite slow when compared with that in western countries.Moreover,previous research at home tend to focus on the translation of mainstream literature rather than sci-fi.This research analyzes cultural words in The Three-Body Problem with thick translation theory as the framework and tries to find out potential translation strategies applicable to the translation of cultural words in Chinese sci-fi.Through this research,thick translation proves to play an important role in the translation of cultural words in The Three-Body Problem.With thick translation as a point of departure,the translator makes meaningful extensions on common translation strategies,such as literal translation,literal translation plus explanation,transliteration,transliteration-plus-explanation and liberal translation.These translation strategies are presented either in the form of annotations or in-text translations to help the target readers understand those unique cultural words and generate respect on Chinese culture.These new combinations successfully attract readers' attention on important cultural information without disturbing their reading experience.