A Comparative Study On Translation Strategies In The Two English Versions Of Shan Hai Jing From The Perspective Of Hermeneutic Motion Theory

As an encyclopedia in ancient times of China,Shan Hai Jing play a very important role in the literature of Chinese classics.Although several English versions have published,there is very few research on it.It has long history and rich cultural images,so it is inevitable that its translation needs to rely on some translation methods to realize the effective conversion of the two languages.Therefore,the study of translation strategies in the English version has become worth discussing.Hermeneutics is used to study people's understanding and interpretation of meanings,so hermeneutics and translation closely connected with each other.George Steiner raised that hermeneutics translation and put forward the translation motion theory directly in 1975(trust,invasion,absorption and compensation).In his view,translation was a process of interpreting.Different translators have different understanding towards the source text and adopt different translation as well as the compensation strategies.In view of this,the translation motion theory is very suitable for comparative study of texts.Therefore,with Steiner's hermeneutics theory as the theoretical guidance,this paper selects the two English versions of American translator Birrell in 1991 and Chinese translator Wang Hong in 2010 as the texts.Starting from the four steps of trust,invasion,absorption and compensation,two questions are discussed respectively as below.What are the differences in the translation strategies used at logic levels between culturally loaded words and sentences because of translators' different subjectivity?What kind of obstacles or help will different translation strategies bring to readers?After a large number of case analysis,it is found that the two versions have different focuses on vocabulary and syntax,which causes the translation strategies used have their own advantages and disadvantages.The study shows that the English version of Shan Hai Jing is of research value to the translation of ancient books,and it is feasible to explore the book from the perspective of hermeneutic theory.By means of data collection and case analysis,the translation strategies of the two English versions have been compared and analyzed.On the one hand,new perspectives are provided to the translation study of Shan Hai Jing.On the other hand,more references are provided to translation methods of Chinese ancient books.Furthermore,the exploration of the translation strategies in this book not only shows the unique charm of Chinese culture but promotes cultural communication and cross-cultural communication.