On The Translation Of Inscriptions From The Perspective Of Steiner’s Hermeneutic Motion Theory

Classical Chinese literature is an essential part of Chinese culture,and the inscriptions in classical literary works reflect the uniqueness and diversity of Chinese culture.The Story of the Stone by Cao Xueqin,a writer of the Qing Dynasty in Chinese history,is a great classical Chinese novel and treasure of world cultural heritage.The greatness and permanence of this work lies not only thematically in its reflection of the then social and political contradictions and the tragic nature of human grief,fantasy,dream and folly,but also formally in its art of language.The abundant poems,calligraphies,lantern riddles,couplets,headings of the chapters and even paintings are written in or matched with regularly antithetical paired lines or couplets.The book also abounds in plaques,or rather,horizontal scrolls,which are often attached to couplets and form a unity of inscription,poetic and loaded with philosophical thoughts,demonstrating typically the exquisite artistry of the author.The English Sinologist and translator David Hawkes contributed a lot in making The Story of the Stone go to the other parts of the world and known by foreign readers.His English translation of the work is regarded as one of the best.George Steiner’s Hermeneutic Motion theory functions as the reliable theoretical foundation for the study on translation of couplets and plagues in The Story of the Stone.Hermeneutic Motion theory is an innovative translation theory proposed by George Steiner on basis of philosophical hermeneutics."Hermeneutics" means explanation.Steiner claims that translation is understanding and interpretation.He views the hermeneutic act of translation as a "motion or movement" through four stages:trust,aggression,incorporation and compensation.Based on Steiner’s Hermeneutic Motion theory,this thesis explores the application of the four stages in Hawkes’ English translation of the couplets and plaques,or inscriptions form The Story of the Stone.As a translator,Hawkes shows his trust in the significance and value of translating this unique form of language,the inscriptions,and trust in his own ability to do the translation.In his understanding and interpretation of the Chinese inscriptions the translator invades the source text in cultural and linguistic domains,grasping and taking away what he obtains in the understanding,for instance,Chinese culture shown in the feudal imperial officialdom,belief in the Zen,Buddhism,Taoism,and Chinese literary and language strength in allusions,folklore,habit of language expression and layout of inscriptions.The translator absorbs what he has gained in the motion of aggression and domesticates the inscriptions in meaning and form in his translation for the sake of the target language readers.The fourth stage is an ethical process.The translator makes compensations for the losses in literary and cultural implications,linguistic and artistic forms and aesthetic experiences.He tries to preserve or restore the original features of Chinese inscriptions to be faithful to the source text and original author.Thus Steiner’s Hermeneutic Motion theory involves the translator’s inner experiences and the entire process of translation,and provides a new perspective for the study of translation and understanding of original texts.This research has found that the inscriptions in The Story of the Stone are full of cultural loads and artistic compositions,that George Steiner’ Hermeneutic Motion theory is a sound theoretical basis for the study of translation of inscriptions in The Story of the Stone,and that this theory can be applied to further studies on translation of the novel to deepen the understanding of Chinese culture of inscription and of the whole book.This study is hopefully to achieve the purpose of improving the quality of translation of classical Chinese literary works,enhancing the understanding and spreading of Chinese culture embodied by Chinese inscriptions.