A Study On The Application Of Thick Translation Theory In The Intralingual Translation From The Perspective Of Cultural Context

Li Yu,the author of Xian Qing Ou Ji(Casual Expressions of Idle Feeling),is the most versatile and enterprising writer and dramatist in the late-Ming and early-Qing dynasties.As a representative of Li Yu's works and the first encyclopedia of ancient Chinese life,Casual Expressions of Idle Feeling has attracted the attention of many scholars at home and abroad to launch analyses of it from various perspectives.However,although three versions of intralingual translation for Casual Expressions of Idle Feeling have been published,no one has ever made an analysis on its intralingual translation strategies.Therefore,based on the cultural context theory,this thesis will apply the descriptive method and comparative method to analyze the thick translation strategies in the three translation versions of Casual Expressions of Idle Feeling,to summarize how the translator achieves the cultural context equivalence in the intra-lingual translation of culture-loaded items with the help of thick translation theory.This research is divided into five parts.In chapter one,it provides a brief introduction to the background,objectives as well as the significance of the research.Except for that,the main methodology applied and how this research is organized are also presented in this part.Chapter two makes a literature review of the relevant studies on both thick translation theory and cultural context theory.Chapter three is concerned with the theoretical framework,mainly focusing on Appiah's Thick Translation Theory and Malinowski's Cultural Context Theory.In chapter four,this thesis firstly makes a comparative analysis of the three intralingual translation versions of Casual Expressions of Idle Feeling,aiming to find the translation errors and difficulties in these three versions.Then,it further explores how thick translation can help in the practice of translating Casual Expressions of Idle Feeling and form his own translation version.The last chapter draws the final conclusion.Based on the analysis,the tentative findings of this study can be summarized as follows:(1)numerous errors and deficiencies can be found in the three translation versions of Casual Expressions of Idle Feeling;(2)the main strategies of thick translation used in the translation of Casual Expressions of Idle Feeling can be concluded as follows: additional preface,footnotes,endnotes,postscripts,addition and transformation etc.;(3)thick translation can provide target readers with rich cultural and linguistic context,which will facilitate a better and informed understanding of Chinese culture and help realize the cultural context equivalence in the intralingual translation.