Foreignization And Domestication Of Animal Words In Translation

The thesis begins with the description of language, culture and translation and discusses the correlations between them. The author maintains that the translation of language is necessary. However, as the vehicle of culture, language carries a large amount of cultural information which should be paid more attention and put at the first place in the process of translation. Translation, as a kind of bridge, has to serve as the function of translating the information of the source language and the cultural meanings at the same time to the readers of the target language. The translation of culture is more important than the translation of the language. Then it studies the functions of animal words from four aspects: application in scientific field, application in politics and school, totem, and features of national culture, and the meanings of animal words.Language mirrors culture. Different cultures give different images of things. The author makes a comparison of images of animal words between Chinese and English. Then follows the discussion of the strategies of the translation of animal words-foreignization and domestication, the focus of this thesis. The author reviews some translating methods—literal translation and free translation, yihua and guihua at home and foreignization and domestication strategies put forward by Venuti, which is followed by the author. The thesis makes a further comparison between and analysis on these methods of translation and comes to the conclusion that Venuti's concepts of domestication and fluent translation are similar to the Chinese concept of guihua, but foreignization and strangeness obviously differ widely from yihua. Foreignization and domestication are the extension of literal translation and free translation. The translation of animal words involves many complicated cultural factors. It is not only the rendering of words, but also the rendering of culture.The author argues that foreignization and domestication in cultural translation is concerned with the problem of appropriateness. Appropriate domestication can enhance the readability of a translated version while appropriate foreignization can afford readers greater knowledge concerning the culture of the language they are reading, thereby enhancing cultural exchanges. Over-foreignization and over-domestication will hinder the understanding...