A Comparative Study Of Two English Translations Of Dao De Jing From The Perspective Of Steiner's Hermeneutic Motion

Dao De Jing is one of the monumental masterpieces,which still resonates with readers and retains its value,even with the passing of the centuries.This great book,comprising approximately 5000 characters,covers subjects ranging from philosophy,military affairs,politics and ethics to self-cultivation.Imbibed with high academic and cultural values,the book attracts a host of scholars' attention at home and abroad.The obscurity of the text and the elusiveness of the Dao add power to its interpretation and therefore makes it the most widely translated of all of the Chinese classics.Philosophical hermeneutics considers how understanding is possible and how interpretation through understanding is achieved.Main concepts in philosophical hermeneutics such as “hermeneutic circle”,“fore-understanding” and “fusion of horizons” have provided fascinating insights into translation study since the 1970 s.Utilizing philosophical hermeneutics as the basis,British translation theorist George Steiner poses the four-beat model of the hermeneutic motion in the act of translation,namely,initiative trust,aggerssion,incorporation and compensation.Using Steiner's model of hermeneutic motion as the mode of analysis,this thesis makes a comparison of the similarities and differences between two English versions of Dao De Jing respectively by Lin Yutang(1948)and Roger T.Ames(2003).This thesis contains six chapters.Research background,significance and structure of the thesis are introduced in chapter one.Studies on the English translations of Dao De Jing are presented in chapter two.Applications of hermeneutics and hermeneutic motion to the study of translation are elaborated in chapter three.Research questions,methodology and procedure are discussed in chapter four.A comparative study on the similarities and differences between Lin and Ames' English versions is presented in chapter five.The author first analyzes Lin and Ames' trust in Dao De Jing and then introduces their aggression to Dao De Jing from the perspective of the two translators' fore-understandings of the original text.Then in the third move of hermeneutic motion,the author describes Lin and Ames' incorporation of the original text from three aspects,the incorporation of content,form and style.Chapter 5 concludes with a discussion of the two translator's ethics and translation techniques applied to their translations as a means of compensation to keep the balance between the source text and target text.Chapter six summarizes the major findings and points out the limitations of the study.This study finds that Lin Yutang and Roger T.Ames' views of Western and Eastern cultures and their translation intentions are two major factors which have an impact on their translations of Dao De Jing.Both of the two translators hold the view that Western and Eastern cultures are complementary and reciprocal.However,their intentions for translating the masterpiece differ.For Lin,his main purpose is to introduce Chinese philosophy to the Western world in the hope of transmitting the spirit of Chinese culture and to deepen intercultural understanding.In the case of Ames,although he is also interested in conveying Chinese culture and philosophy to the Western world,he is primarily concerned with rectifying the misunderstandings from previous translations.Hopefully,this study will inspire other researchers in exploring values in English versions of Dao De Jing as well as broadening the research perspectives on the translations of Dao De Jing.