Analysis Of The Reflection Of The Four Steps Of Steiner’s Hermeneutic Translation Theory In The Cassia Tree

It can be seen from the development of Chinese children’s literature that the proportion of Western culture “imported” is greater than that of Chinese culture “exported”.As China’s comprehensive national power grows,it is an irresistible trend for Chinese culture to go global.Huo Gui Hua is a novel in Cao Wenxuan’s bilingual collection,which was written by Cao Wenxuan.And its English translation is called The Cassia Tree,which was translated by Helen Wang.The novel revolves around a cassia tree and a unique custom of “shaking the cassia tree”,and tells the story of a girl called Grace.The novel follows Mr.Cao’s usual theme of starting with suffering,and as the story progresses,the good and evil of human nature is analyzed in a thought-provoking manner.The novel uses a large number of characteristic Chinese expressions,rooted in traditional Chinese culture,which makes English translation difficult,and there are few relative studies on its English translation.In the context of Chinese culture going global,it is worth considering how to turn the status of Chinese children’s literature around,and how to translate and disseminate it better.This thesis takes The Cassia Tree as the subject of study,and under the guidance of the four steps of Steiner’s hermeneutic translation theory,analyzes how the meaning and the form of the original text are conveyed through the four steps of trust,aggression,incorporation,and compensation,so as to achieve a balance between the original text and the translated text.On this basis,the thesis further studies what translation strategies the translators used in the process of translation: domestication or foreignization.The hermeneutic theory has evolved over a long time from classical hermeneutics to modern hermeneutics.Steiner proposed a hermeneutic translation theory based on philosophical hermeneutics,which divides translation into four steps.The first step is trust.The initial trust means an investment of trust,secured by the translator’s experience.The second step is aggression.The translator understands the text and the culture,and interprets the text from his or her perspective.The third step is incorporation.The translator incorporates the form of the original text and the meaning that the author conveys,and adds them into his or her own cultural system to use it.The fourth step is compensation.Due to cultural differences,the first three steps lead to an imbalance between the original and the translated text.In order to restore the previous state that before disturbed,appropriate compensation measures need to be taken.It is found that in The Cassia Tree,there are certain rules in the use of translation strategies of domestication and foreignization.And the four steps of hermeneutic translation theory run throughout the entire translation process of The Cassia Tree,with the translator giving full play to her subjectivity and retaining Chinese characteristics while spreading Chinese culture.The case study on analysis of the application of the four steps of Steiner’s hermeneutic translation theory in The Cassia Tree will help to discuss the effect of the theory in guiding the English translation of Chinese children’s literature,so as to tell Chinese stories better and retain Chinese cultural characteristics.This study will enable more Chinese and foreign translators to see the feasibility of translating Chinese children’s literature into foreign languages and promote the“going global” of China’s excellent culture.