A Study Of The Translation Of Culture-specific Items In Shediao Yingxiong Zhuan

Shediao Yingxiong Zhuan is one of the best known martial arts novels in modern China As a classic,it not only depicts a perilous yet romantic wuxia world,but unfolds the broad and profound traditional Chinese culture as well.Since the concept of cultural turn was advanced,cultural transfer has captured a growing attention.Anna Holmwood's English version of Shediao Yingxiong Zhuan has been well received in the West and can be regarded as a masterpiece of overseas promotion of Chinese culture.This thesis aims to probe into the treatment of Culture-specific Items(CSIs)in Holmwood's A Hero Born:Legends of the Condor Heroes Vol.? from the perspective of Javier Franco Aixela's theory about CSIs,with a view to providing some references for the translation and promotion of martial arts novels.The CSIs in the first nine chapters and their corresponding renderings in Holmwood's version are collected and classified into six categories.In an attempt to ensure the reliability of the conclusions,the author of the thesis first discusses the applicability of Aixela's CSIs theory in Chinese-English translation,after which some slight modifications are made in Aixela's eleven translation strategies.On this basis,the author statistically studies the translation strategies of CSIs in A Hero Born:Legends of the Condor Heroes Vol.? and further analyzes the translation procedures of some typical CSIs.At the end of this thesis,the potential motivations for the translator's choice are explored as the adoption of a particular translation strategy is often determined by many factorsFrom this study,the major findings can be drawn as follows:First,substitutive approaches occupy a dominant position in Anna Holmwood's version,which indicates that the translator is closer to the target readers;Second,when it comes to rendering the CSIs related to the core elements of martial arts novels,conservative strategies are favored so as to introduce the distinct Chinese wuxia culture to the receiving pole;Third,some CSIs are translated in combination with conservation and substitution strategies,which not only confirms the complementary,rather than incompatible,relationship between the two,but also reflects the efforts the translator made to strike a balance between the source text and the target audience.Three factors lie behind Anna Holmwood's translation strategies:1)Professionalism and social identity of the translator;2)Expectations of potential readers;3)Degree of canonization of the source text.Admittedly,a few mistranslations can be seen in Anna Holmwood's version,but none of them relate to wuxia CSIs.