A Study On The Translation Strategies Of Culture-loaded Words In Howard Goldblatt’s English Translation Of Frog From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

Goldblatt is one of the most prolific and influential translators in promoting the transmission of modern and contemporary Chinese literature in English-speaking world.His “glocal” translation has produced an unexpected effect in demonstrating the best of Chinese culture and his success is of great significance under the initiative of “going outside” with traditional Chinese culture.His translation of Frog confronts to sensitive social issues and reveals the complicated implementation of “family planning policy”.Being a typical representative work of contemporary Chinese literature,Frog,possessing great literary value,is the winner of the eighth Mao Dun Literature Awards.The frequent use of culture-loaded words in Frog makes this novel appropriate for research on Goldblatt’s translation behavior and translation strategies of culture-loaded words in a literary scenario.This thesis,under the the theoretical framework of Skopos theory and Nord’s documentary translation and instrumental translation,is written to analyze the translation strategies of seven different categories of culture-loaded words in Goldblatt’s translation,namely the idiomatic phase,names,social appellation,food and clothing,religion and political terminology.Skopos theory indicates that any form of translation behavior has one or more purposes,and target language readers play an important role in determining the purpose of translation,who have their own cultural background and expectations of translation.In the process of translation,Goldblatt properly and earnestly handles the relationship among author,translator and target readers.Literal translation,transliteration,literal translation and annotation are adopted to realize dynamic equivalence to the original text to the greatest extent.By adding explanatory words or annotation,such as preface,list of figures and title,Goldblatt successfully fills the gap of cultural information and reduces the target readers’ difficulties in having accurate and authentic comprehension.Furthermore,rooted in the differences between Chinese and Western ways of thinking,language habits and cultural identity,omission,substitution and free translation are adopted to simplify language expression and get the best effect in cultural exchange and literary appreciation.Last but not least,in light of selection of translation text,the translator caters to the reading expectations of Western readers and conforms to the demands of the times.