On Translation Of The Sci-Fi Coinages In The Three-Body Problem From The Perspective Of Translator Behavior Criticism

With the development of science and technology,science fictions and their translation have attracted more and more attention.Science fictions are an important category in the genre of fictions,whose purpose is to boldly imagine the development of material and cultural life,spiritual world and the science and technology of human beings in the future society based on the real world through the prediction and imagination of scientific facts.As a representative of Chinese science fictions,Liu Cixin has won high praise in the writing industry for his novel The Three-Body Problem,which is so magnificent and imaginative that it was awarded the 73 rd Hugo Award for Best Novel.It is the first time that a Chinese or even an Asian writer has won the Hugo Award.The fact that The Three-Body Problem won wide recognition in the international literary world is closely attributed to the excellent English translation of the novel,which was done by the marvelous translator Ken Liu.Translator Behavior Criticism put forward by Professor Zhou Lingshun is a theoretical tool for studying translators’ behaviors.The evaluative model of“Truth-seeking-Utility-attaining” Continuum is the core concept of such theory.“Truth-seeking” behaviors refer to the translators’ behaviors of seeking part or all of the truth of the source text in order to achieve the goal of being “utility-attaining” for the readers/society;While “utility-attaining” behaviors refer to the translator’s attitude and method of serving the readers/society on the basis of satisfying the “truth-seeking”requirement of the original text.In reality,the translator’s choice usually lies between“truth-seeking” and “utility-attaining” so as to rationalize his own translator behaviors.From the perspective of Translator Behavior Criticism proposed by Professor Zhou Lingshun,this paper attempts to make a descriptive study on the translation of sci-fi coinages in Ken Liu’s translation of The Three-Body Problem based on the evaluative model of “Truth-seeking-Utility-attaining” continuum.The findings are as follows:Firstly,there are 81 sci-fi coinages in The Three-Body Problem,which can be divided into four major categories: sci-fi coinages of eras,civilizations,science and technology and others.Among them,the most numerous are sci-fi coinages of science and technology,which reaches 37,followed by sci-fi coinages of others while sci-fi coinages of eras are the smallest in number,which is only 6.Secondly,in translating the sci-fi coinages in The Three-Body Problem,Ken Liu adopts various translation methods such as literal translation,free translation and interpretation to preserve the Chinese science fiction characteristics of the original text as much as possible and meanwhile cater to readers’ reading expectations so as to spread Chinese science fiction culture.Thirdly,Ken Liu’s translation of sci-fi coinages in The Three-Body Problem pursues the end of “utility-attaining” on the basis of “truth-seeking” in the evaluative model of “Truth-seeking-Utility-attaining” continuum.His behavior,on the one hand,aims to convey the original linguistic style and taste of the fiction while on the other hand,caters to the needs and reading habits of the target readers,which has struck a perfect balance between “truth-seeking” and “utility-attaining”.This indicates that Ken Liu shows much respect for the original fiction,and meanwhile seeks to help The Three-Body Problem gain wide acceptance and attention in the Western science fiction community,thus making Chinese science fiction and its culture “go global” in the real sense.Finally,in the future translation of science fiction,translators should pay attention to the translation of various small words and new words;Translators should use various translation methods and deal with the translation of sci-fi coinages in different contexts flexibly;Translators of science fictions need to balance the requirements of“truth-seeking” and “utility-attaining” and strive to meet the reading habits of readers while maintaining the style of the original work.