On The English Translation Of Lantern Riddles In Hong Lou Meng From The Perspective Of Intextuaiity

Hong Lou Meng is lauded as an all-embracing encyclopedia, in which riddles, poems are interwoven with couplets and Buddhist’s hymn, etc. Distinct as these literary forms are, they have proved to be integral parts for the construction of plots and characterization. In Hong Lou Meng, the scenes of composing and guessing lantern riddles are well portrayed. They play an important role in foreshowing the plots, insinuating the characters’fates, painting a picture of the social life, and in embodying the figures’states of mind. They are like "hubs of the spokes", which are essential to the whole work. However, the topic of riddle translation has not aroused much concern, which is incompatible with the function and position of lantern riddles in Hong Lou Meng. Also, there are few research papers on translation of the riddles from the perspective of intertextuality.According to intertextuality, a text can not exist as a hermetic or a self whole, or a closed system. On the contrary, a given text is always correlated with other texts, including the pre-existing ones and contemporary ones, hence the theory of intertextuality. It has shaken the view of self-dependence regarding texts and has contributed to the turning of a new leaf in textual study.In recent decades, the researches of intertextuality have perked up with frequent cultural communication. More often than not, they take such static texts as news reports, novels, poetry, etc. as objects of study, and the investigations range from the application of translation theories, the subject and object of translation, translation process and results to the ontological study of translation, etc.This thesis attempts to investigate the riddle translation in Hong Lou Meng from the perspective of intertextuality. To begin with, taking the line of structuralism, it combs the history of intertextuality, lays bear its connotation, elaborates the typology of intertextuality initiated by different schools, and the relationship between intertextuality and translation. Then, it traces back to the history of Chinese riddles from the Pre-Qin period to the Qing dynasty, and analyzes the characteristics and functions of lantern riddles in Hong Lou Meng. And then, the riddle translation of the two versions will be examined from the perspective of intertextuality so as to comprehend how intertextual content is transmitted. In the body part, Fairelough’s classification of intertextuality is adopted. The intertextual signs in riddles are categorized according to manifest intertextuality and constitutive intertextuality, the former of which includes manifest signs, citation, cultural-loaded words, puns and the latter of which consists of motif, type, and style, etc. The differences, gain and loss on transmitting the intertextual signs in the two versions will be illustrated.The conclusions are made as follows:faithful to the source text, the Yangs’ version pays more attention to the intertextual relation with the linguistic and cultural contexts of the source text. In comparison, as Hawkes always takes readers’reception into consideration, the intertextual references in the target language are borrowed as equivalents. His version lays more stress on the readability with more adaptation displaying the advantages of the target language. However, we can safely say that through intertextual memory and reading, both versions have conveyed the writer’s writing purpose and the connotation of the text in the hope that readers can understand and accept the intertextual images.In addition, in order to reduce the loss of intertextual content, the intertextual translation method can be helpful. Translate a poem in the form of poem. Besides, citation, parody, annotation, adaptation etc can be put into use to convey intertextual reference. Furthermore, form must be combined with content. In theme, mode, and style, etc., the translated version should keep to the original to the fullest extent.Translators are supposed to bring his subjectivity into full play to unearth the connotation of the source text, so as to make his rendition agree with it whether in form, content, or in artistic conception and motif, etc. Additionally, translators should associate the rendition with other intertexts so that readers will well be in a position to gain an insight into the cultural connotation between lines.