A Cultural Comparison Between Chinese And Western Translation Theories

The Comparative study of translation constitutes a new branch of translatology, and it is to find out the universality and difference between various translation systems by means of comparing their thoughts, theories, methods and techniques. It is to make researchers familiar with the status, value, and contribution of each system in the history of world translation systems and take in the good nutrition from other's to boost the construction of translation at home (Tan Zaixi, 2000:175). Currently, Chinese and Western translation researchers turned their focuses to the history of translation, the relationship between translation and culture, which laid a sound foundation for the cultural comparison study. However, there are very few such products in China, except Mr. Tan's Science of Translation published five years ago. Under such circumstances, there is a growing need for the study between the translation systems in China and the West in the aspect of cultural comparison. On the whole, Chinese and Western translation theory evolves independently because of different languages and social traditions, and it was in 1980s that there emerged positive dialogues between two sides.This thesis aims to dig out the cultural universality, distinguish between national characteristics, draw a profile of the development of Chinese and Western translation theory in cultural perspective, position Chinese and Western translation theory in world systems, widen and strengthen Chinese translation studies with advanced Western translation thoughts.This thesis is in five parts. The introduction makes brief statements on the relationship between translation practice and theory, the general developing path of translation theory; and highlights the significance of the comparative study between Chinese and Western translation theory in cultural perspective. Chapter One and Chapter Two formulate the hidden socio-cultural factors and its impact on Chinese and Western translation theory separately. Chapter Three finds out the cultural differences and universality between Chinese and Western translation theory. The...