A Cultural Study Of The English Versions Of Mao Zedong's Poetry

Along with the economic globalization, cultural exchange and cross-cultural communication have developed increasingly. More and more readers with western cultural backgrounds have the desire to understand and appreciate the rich Chinese culture. Mao Zedong, a political leader of a quarter of mankind, is a major poet and an original master, whose poetic writings are appreciated and valued by readers at home and abroad. English versions of Mao Zedong's poetry act as a media of introducing his thought, feelings, and Chinese culture to the readers of English. The school of cultural translation holds that the process of translation is actually the process of cultural exchange and intercultural communication and the main obstacles the translators meet in the translating process is those dynamic factors in different cultures. How to transfer the cultural references effectively to the English readers is the writing motive and the focus of this thesis.In this thesis, the author tries to study the translation of cultural references in various English versions of Mao Zedong's poetry, briefly introduces the relevant studies at home and abroad, and cultural translation theories, analyzes the cultural barriers as well as the translation of cultural references in different versions and then expounds the strategies the translators adopt in translating cultural references in Mao Zedong's poetry.Apart from the introduction and the conclusion, this thesis consists of three chapters. The introduction part makes a brief introduction to Mao Zedong and his poetic writings as well as various English versions at home and abroad. Chapter one is a comprehensive retrospect over cultural translation theory and an analysis of cultural barriers translators may come across in their translating process. This chapter also talks about the importance of perception of cultural translation. Chapter two makes a comparative study on the translation of cultural references in different versions of Mao Zedong's poetry. Chapter three concludes the translation strategies adopted by translators in translating cultural references of Mao Zedong's poetry, containing two tendencies: domestication and foreignization.The conclusion this thesis draws are as follows: based on the cultural awareness and accurate understanding of the cultural references, translators can appropriately and effectively transfer the cultural connotation from the source language to the target language; adopting appropriate cultural translation strategies, translators can solve the problems such as cultural mismatch, cultural vacancy, zero cultural equivalence or faulty translation and ultimately accomplish the translators'mission of cultural communication.