A Memetic Study On The English Translation Of Traditional Chinese Architectural Terms

Traditional Chinese architecture(TCA)is always considered as one precious cultural heritage created by Chinese ancestors during the long-term practice,whose cultural essence is mainly reflected in its terminological system.The effective translation of TCA terms with distinct Chinese features can benefit a lot for the widespread of Chinese traditional culture.Nevertheless,the research on TCA term translation is not sufficient until now.The present thesis offers a preliminary investigation on the TCA term translation from a brand-new angle of memetics,from which some enlightenment are expected for the relevant research in this domain.Memetics is a comparatively new theory about the meme transmission and culture evolution.The word “meme” is first coined by Richard Dawkins(1976)in his masterpiece The Selfish Gene.In memetics,the “meme” is a unit of cultural transmission,or a unit of imitation.Any information pattern residing in human minds or other physical objects can be called a “meme” as long as it can be copied and propagated by imitation.TCA terms,thus,are also called language memes.Andrew Chesterman(1997)first introduces memetics into translation area and regards translation as an indispensable survival machine for the cross-cultural meme transmission.The present thesis builds a research corpus of TCA terms from the book Traditional Architectural Culture of China written by Lou Qingxi and translated by Su Guang,and investigates how to render TCA terms effectively based on memetics theory.Targeting at different readerships at home and abroad,the book covers many kinds of TCA.Thus its TCA terms are relatively comprehensive and systematic.For the transmission process of memes,memetics indicates that a meme has to undergo the meme lifecycle repeatedly if it is to be replicated and propagated successfully.The present thesis first illustrates the transmission process of TCA terms based on the meme lifecycle.Afterwards,a detailed analysis is conducted to probe into the TCA term translation according to the characteristics of successful memes,i.e.copying-fidelity,fecundity,and longevity.Different translation methods,such as transliteration,free translation,transliteration plus free translation,function differently in achieving the qualities of successful memes.At last,according to the successful meme transmission,this thesis continues to discuss the TCA term translation from three memetic aspects,i.e.diffusion of cultural memes,entrance into the target memepool,and survival and propagation of the translated memes.According to memetics,TCA terms constitute a memepool and terms of western buildings form another one.Because of the differences between Chinese and English memepool,the translation should be balanced deliberately to make sure the translated memes infiltrate into the English memepool and get replicated and propagated successfully.Enlightened by the successful meme transmission,the translator should emphasize the cultural memes carried by these terms,simplify the translated diction and forms,unify the translated versions,and focus on the consistency and systematicness of the translated memes throughout the whole transmission process.Only in this way can the TCA terms and their culture be disseminated successfully.