Comparative Study Of The Six English Versions Of The Analects Of Confucius

Translation is an inter-culturc activity. Through comparing thc six [1nglish vcrsions ofthe Analects of Confucius, this thesis explores the problems in retranslating culturalt cIassics. First it introduces the importance of cuItural exchange in translation studiesand the social and historical statUs of the Analects of Confucius both at home andabroad. The translation of the book in contemporary and modern times is brieflyintroduced as well. Then, the thesis attempts to establish a theoretical structure forretranslation study. That is to take the four relative factors into consideration andstudy the aspects of style, standard, methodology, reception theory and so on. Underthe exploring structure, the six versions are compared in both the macro and the microaspects. From the macro point of vieW influences from different layouts of theversions and choice of appropriate standard to judge the quaIity of rendition arediscussed, From the micro point of view, many practical problems in tra11slating arc..dealt with such as choices of TI. \'arieties, causes of misundeTstanding, the diachronicdifferences in understanding and especia1ly the cultural factors, namely theculturaI-speciflc expressions, cultural images and discourse factors. It is found that thetraditional translators such as Legge and Waley tend to use written style and they areinfluenced by old English to some extent, while the modern translators tend to choosecolloquial style in modern English. The misunderstandings of fOreigners are causedby linguistic as we1l as cultural factors. As far as the cultural factors are concerned,the practical translating methods of different translators are compared and evaluated.' And the relatively appropriate methods are suggested. At last, a general conclusion ofthe thesis is advanced on the basis of the above analysis in the hope of improving thequality of the future translation of cultural classics.3...