A Contrastive Analysis On Thick Translation Strategies In Two English Versions Of Tao Te Ching

Tao Te Ching,Lao Tzu’s masterpiece,is a great treasure in Chinese culture and literature.Early in 1868,the first English translation of Tao Te Ching was produced by the British missionary John Cham.Then an increasing number of translations appeared thereafter.There are now more than two hundred versions,with many new versions of Tao Te Ching coming out every year.The English translation of Tao Te Ching remains a hot topic in translation studies.Previous studies are focused on the interpretation of Lao Tzu’s original text and how translation conveys the cultural connotations of Tao Te Ching.This thesis draws on Thick Translation theory to investigate Lin Yutang’s and Arthur Waley’s English translations of Tao Te Ching.Thick Translation refers to “translation that seeks with its annotations and its accompanying glosses to locate the text in a rich cultural and linguistic context”(Appia,1993,p.817).It is a specific translation method,which provides a theoretical basis for us to guide the dissemination of Chinese classics.This thesis compares these annotations in the two English versions from the perspective of both textual and extra-textual annotations.Textual annotations are mainly defined by adding additional and supplementary annotations to the relevant content;extra-textual annotations appear in the form of footnotes,and the relevant concepts are appropriately supplemented by adding preambles,subtitles,comments,etc.On the one hand,textual annotations can convey information smoothly without destroying the coherent beauty of the original.On the other hand,extra-textual annotations,not limited by space,can provide more information,such as literal meaning and cultural meaning.The thesis examines the following questions:(1)how textual and extra-textual annotations are applied in two translations;(2)how culturally loaded terms are annotated;(3)what effects the two versions produce,based on the choice of different annotation content,selection of annotation information and use of annotation methods,along with the importance of thick translation strategy,and the pros and cons of annotation strategies.It is found that:(1)Lin successfully interprets the cultural terms in Tao Te Ching,by means of preface,subtitles and thick translation methods.The stories of Chuangtse are often used to explain cultural objects,names and behavioural words in Tao Te Ching.For idioms,allusions,and proper nouns,Lin tends to use textual annotations,coupled with transliteration or literal translation,which conforms to foreign literature lovers’ reading habits and satisfies their desire to appreciate the Chinese language and culture.(2)Waley tends to add footnotes at the end of each chapter to interpret cultural terms,and uses English equivalents close to the terminology in source text.In addition,he introduces his life and opinions through the preface,introduction and appendix outside the text.He strives to conform to domestic culture and locates the translated text in the context of Chinese culture and history,so the information conveyed by Waley is comparable to that of Lin’s translation,with an aim to reproduce the original content with precise expression.(3)Waley’s annotations are more academic than Lin’s,but Waley adopts a foreignizing strategy that produces a prose-like translation;Lin,however,emphasizes the aesthetic value of the original and strives for unity of beauty and loyalty.For the translation of classics,the biggest challenge does not lie in the language itself but the cultural heritage carried by the language.Thick translation strategies play an important role in guiding the English translation of classics to globalize traditional Chinese culture.