Compensation Strategies In Wuxia Fiction Translation

Since the 1970 s,there has been an increasing interest in wuxia fiction among Westerners,yet the rich Chinese cultural connotations within this genre have discouraged many translators.The British-Swedish translator Anna Holmwood's translation of Jin Yong's masterpiece Legends of the Condor Heroes ?: A Hero Born,formally published in 2018,has made a huge impact in the West and aroused extensive discussion,providing a very valuable text for our research.In the translation of literary works rooted in Chinese culture,such as wuxia fiction,loss and corresponding compensation are inevitable.Guided by Hervey and Higgins' s compensation theory,this thesis traces back to relevant social and cultural backgrounds and conducts detailed text analyses of specific translation examples from four dimensions including compensation in kind,compensation in place,compensation by merging,and compensation by splitting,to explore what compensation strategies Holmwood has adopted intentionally or unintentionally and what effect she has achieved.After research,this thesis draws the following conclusions: The translator employs compensation in kind and compensation by splitting to preserve the Chineseness of wuxia fiction for target readers and highlight the status of wuxia novels as a unique literary genre,especially in the translation of kung fu moves,characters' nicknames,idioms,and poems.Meanwhile,when involved in language differences that may cause barriers to target readers,Holmwood tends to adopt compensation in place and compensation by merging to clear up obstacles,such as omitting secondary historical information.