Study On The Translation Strategies Of The Cultural Content Of The Poetry In Hongloumeng

Translation, especially literary translation in essence is intercultural communication. How to convey the cultural elements of the source text to the target language reader has been a heatedly disputed topic in the discipline of translation. Poetry which is the crystallization of culture together with its special stylistic features poses more difficulty for translators. Foreignization and domestication are two different translation trends concerning the cultural phenomenon in the source language. The former is target reader-oriented, while the latter is source-language culture oriented.Based on the comparative study of poetry in the English versions of Hongloumeng by Yang and Hawkes, this paper makes a comparative analysis of the different translation strategy of the poetry in the English versions adopted by Yang and Hawkes respectively and discusses the operational factors influencing their strategies in accordance with the ones the paper proposes in the first part. This paper shows that in the course of rendering the cultural elements in the poetry of Hongloumeng, Yang generally adopted the strategy of foreignization, while Hawkes domestication. Their distinctive choices are affected basically by the following four types of factors. Firstly, because Chinese culture is getting more and more attention and considered an integral part of world culture relics, and also the novel Hongloumeng is largely an expressive text, translators have its responsibility to get the culture-loaded elements across by the target readership. Secondly, when taking into consideration of the cultural presupposition and the type of the readers of the target language, the translator will employ some corresponding translation strategies. The target readership of Yang's English version of Hongloumeng are mostly learned with easy access both to the original and translated versions, their understanding and ability to comprehend the cultural phenomenon are more desiring than Hawkes's whose readership are primarily English language speakers. Thirdly, social ideology in specific historical periods also has certain impact on translator's preference for strategies used in their translations. In Yang's time of the translation of Hongloumeng, he had no choice but to treat the novel as a"sacred"book and stick to the original text rigidly and be able to express his own understanding of the author's intention due to the special political background of that time. Lastly, the cultural and philosophic attitude of the translator. Being faithful is Yang's first concern; he wanted foreign readers to know Chinese culture, while Hawkes laid more emphasis on pleasing his readers though he also tried every means to translate everything in his version.In today's world of expanding globalization, the author of the paper presents her view about the two trends in cultural translation: they are not contradictory, but supplementary instead. Foreignization strategy will be more and more favored.