An Analysis Of Thick Translation Methods In Lin Yutang's English Version Of Tao Te Ching

Lin Yutang is a famous writer,scholar,translator,linguist of modern China and the representative of New Taoism.In the 1940 s,Lin Yutang translated Tao Te Ching as The Wisdom of Laotse that brought the Taoist thought and the life wisdom of Laotse into English world where people were suffering from spiritual and cultural crisis at that time.Lin Yutang's English version of Tao Te Ching is of great value for the spreading of Chinese classics.On the basis of thick translation theory,this thesis takes Lin Yutang's The Wisdom of Laotse as a case study and adopts descriptive research methodology to classify and describe the thick translation methods from the aspects of internal text and external text.Through the analysis,the author finds thick translation methods of internal text mainly contain explanation within text,descriptive translation,approximate translation as well as calque which provide target readers a better understanding of the key terms and cultural connotations of Taoist thought.Among the four methods,explanation within text is the most frequently used due to the influence of the original text characteristics.In terms of thick translation methods of external text,the translator extended the structure of source text and enriched the contents of source text by adding introduction and prolegomena,themes and titles,translator's commentaries,excerptions of Chuangtse,footnotes and appendix,which provide target readers with the linguistic and cultural background of the original.As for external text,the excerptions of Chuangtse,footnotes and the translator's commentaries are the most frequently used to facilitate target readers' understanding of Laotse's thoughts.Based on descriptive analysis,the thesis discusses the reasons for which thick translation methods are extensively used in Lin Yutang's The Wisdom of Laotse and thinks Lin's version is an integrated production under the influence of social ideology,the translator's ideology,poetics as well as patronage.Exactly speaking,the social ideology influence translator's ideology,and the former two along with patronage exert an effect on translator's choice of the source text while translator's ideology and poetics would further influence the translation methods,all of which lead to the final production of thick translation in Lin Yutang's The Wisdom of Laotse.Through thick translation methods,the translator places the target readers into an abundant linguistic and cultural context of source text which greatly promotes target readers to easily accept and deeply respect philosophical Taoism.The Wisdom of Laotse has exerted a huge cultural influence since its publication,which makes the translation become classic example of the study of English translation of Tao Te Ching.The thick translation methods in Lin's translated text have great significance for the translation of Chinese classics in English and the transmission of Chinese culture.