A Study On Paratexts In Nienhauser’s Translation Of Hsiang Yü Basic Annals From The Perspective Of Thick Translation

Shih chi,the first general history of China by chronology,is of great historical and literary value.As one of the most exciting and important chapters,Hsiang Yü,Basic Annals was praised by Liang Qichao as one of the ten most famous chapters in Shih chi.American sinologist William H.Nienhauser,Jr.(1943~)began the complete translation of Shih chi in the 1990 s,which was recognized as the second large-scale translation project of Shih chi in the United States by the translation circles.The most prominent feature of his translation is that it has detailed paratexts,with 289 footnotes in the chapter of Hsiang Yü,Basic Annals.However,the academic circles have paid little attention to the paratexts in his translation,and the researches on them are even less.In this paper,from the perspective of Appiah’s theory of thick translation,the author makes a detailed analysis and interpretation of four types of paratexts,namely annotation,preface,postface and appendix in the translation of Nienhauser’s Hsiang Yü,Basic Annals with methods of literature collation and paratextual analysis,and examines their specific functions under the background of thick translation so as to provide some significance or enlightenment for the translation of Chinese classics.It is found that Nienhauser tends to adopt literal translation plus annotation and transliteration plus annotation methods to translate culture-loaded terms,supplementing and explaining cultural and historical information,enriching cultural context by virtue of abundant annotations so as to promote readers’ understanding and acceptance.Meanwhile,the preservation of ancient Chinese characters in the translation embodies the respect for and emphasis on Chinese culture;Nienhauser writes a long preface to present his translation ideas of advocating cultural diversity and promoting cultural communication by introducing translation motives,purpose,strategy and process;postface explains the most controversial issues of the chapter,and appendix offers abundant bibliographies of relevant translations and researches,maps,and index about personal names,place names and official titles facilitatingreaders’ locating and searching,all of which enjoy highly academic value,and lay a solid foundation for the further study by western sinologists and scholars.Theoretically,this thesis provides a new perspective for the research of paratexts in Nienhauser’s translation,and practically,it enriches paratextual studies of Nienhauser’s translation and offers enlightenment for the translation of Chinese classics.