A Comparative Study Of Four Chinese Versions Of Walden-From The Perspective Of Cultural Transmission

This thesis is aimed to conduct a comparative study on the transmitting of cultural elements in the four Chinese versions of Walden.The peculiar cultural elements are always ambiguous, and only readers who share the same cultural background can experience the sense of the peculiarity. Therefore, the efficient transmission of cultural elements to the TL readers becomes a very important purpose in translation.Language and culture are interactive and interdependent. It is no exaggeration to say that language is the foundation of culture and culture is the track along which language forms and develops. As a means of communication, translation plays an important role in cross-cultural exchange. However, the cultural difference has posed untold difficulties to translation. The conflict between different cultural concepts and cultural backgrounds may hamper or even discontinue communication.On the broad horizon of globalization, more and more translators have developed their cultural awareness, tending to explore the translation study in the context of comparative culture studies. Just as Eugene A. Nida puts it, "For truly successful translating, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism, since words only have meanings in terms of cultures in which they function." (Eugene A. Nida, 2001: 82) However, it must be pointed out that cultural content and cultural form have the same importance, and it is translator's responsibility to fulfill the duty of cultural transmission. Nevertheless, cultural differences make translators embarrassed in making the choice. In view of this, this thesis compares four Chinese versions of Walden, studies the different strategies they adopt to deal with the cultural elements, namely characters form the Greek and Roman Mythology, allusions form the Bible and Greek and Roman Mythology, and analects from Chinese Confucianism, analyses the different effect caused by the different methods, and comments the best way to achieve of purpose of cultural equivalence or sufficient cultural transmission.