A Study Of Culture-Specific Words In The Two English Versions Of Zhuangzi-From The Perspective Of Susan Bassnett's Cultural Translation Theory

In the present thesis, the author applies Susan Bassnett's cultural translation theory to the comparative study of two English versions of the great Chinese classic work Zhuangzi and draws some common features of English translation of Chinese classic work.Traditionally, translation is regarded as an activity of converting one language into another. During dozens of years, more and more researchers put their emphasis on the relationship between culture and translation. It is not only a linguistic transformation, but essentially a cultural communication. Thus there starts cultural turn in translation studies which means the study of translation with culture and from the cultural studies angle. At last, there forms cultural translation theory. The phrase cultural translation has also become a common terminology in the field of translation studies. Among those scholars, the most outstanding one is Susan Bassnett. Bassnett (1990) holds that translation is the communication within culture or between cultures. Translation equivalence is the cultural functional equivalence between the source text and the target text. Therefore, translation is not a pure behavior of language but roots in culture. The establishment of Bassnett's cultural translation theory has pushed translation studies a step forward and has a deep influence in the field of translation studies.With rich cultural connotations, Zhuangzi has been worshiped as a Taoist canon and a literary masterpiece. The present thesis, based on the cultural translation theory of Susan Bassnett, attempts to solve the following problems through an analysis of two English versions of Zhuangzi by translators of different nationalities and historical periods. How the cultural elements are translated in Zhuangzi? What kinds of translation methods are adopted in these two English versions of Zhuangzi? What are the influences of choosing different cultural translation strategies? With the analysis of a large number of samples, the present author reaches the following conclusions. The cultural information translation in Zhuangzi, mainly traditional Chinese culture, could be conducted with Susan Bassnett's cultural translation theory as a guideline. In spite of some demerits, Legge's version and Wang's version are successful translations and reflect the translatability of cultural elements. The present thesis also hopes to provide a useful reference to the activities of classical Chinese literature translation.This thesis consists of an introduction, three chapters and a conclusion. The introduction presents the object of study, literature review, research background and significance. Chapter one is an introduction about cultural translation theory. Chapter two is a brief introduction to Zhuangzi and its English versions, especially James Legge's and Wang's English versions. Chapter three is an analysis on cultural-specific words in two English versions of Zhuangzi in different types and gives out the present paper's comments. The last is the concluding chapter, which gives an ending to the paper and what's more, further suggestions for the Chinese classic works translation.