A Study Of Translation Of Culture-loaded Words From The Perspective Of Reception Aesthetics

Reception Aesthetics,originated in the 1960 s,is an important literary criticism on the basis of hermeneutics and phenomenology,represented by Hans Robert Jauss(1921-1977)and Wolfgang Iser(1922-2007).Reception Aesthetics advocates the reader-centered orientation,and it contains the concepts of the horizon of expectations(Jauss,1970:14),aesthetic distance(Jauss,1982:25),the implied reader(Iser,1978a:34),the Response-Inviting structure(Iser,1978a:21)and so on.Since the late 1970 s,Reception Aesthetics has been gradually applied in literary translation studies.Culture-loaded words carry abundant cultural connotations.The translation of culture-loaded words is also a difficult task in the process of literary translation.Cultural connotations of culture-loaded words to a large extent affect target readers' understanding and reception of target texts.On the basis of satisfying target readers' reception level,translators also should stimulate target readers' curiosity and enhance the aesthetic values of the literary work by adopting appropriate translation strategies and methods.Compared with traditional translation theories,Reception Aesthetics not only stresses the importance of the source text and the author,but also focuses on the initiative and creativity of target readers.Reception Aesthetics provides a new perspective for the translation of culture-loaded words and literary translation studies.Compared with the relevant studies in this field,the paper not only summarizes the translation strategies of culture-loaded words,but also focuses on analyzing the significance of the Reception Aesthetics on literary translation.Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk is a famous collection of essays written by Lu Xun.A large number of culture-loaded words in this collection mainly reflect the social and cultural background and features in the author's youth.Under the guidance of Reception Aesthetics,this paper takes the examples of Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk and its translation translated by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang,to explore the translation of culture-loaded words from the concepts of horizon of expectations,aesthetic distance and the Response-Inviting Structure.The author attempts to prove the significant role of target readers in translation and the applicability of Reception Aesthetics to translation of culture-loaded words,and tries to provide some suggestions.It can be concluded that,in dealing with the translation of culture-loaded words,translators not only need to satisfy target readers' horizon of expectations.Atthe meantime,translators also need to consider target readers' aesthetic experience.On the basis of adjusting the appropriate aesthetic distance,translators can inspire target readers' imagination by recreation of Response-Inviting Structures,so as to further promote the aesthetic values of literary translation.