On The Translation Of Culture-loaded Words From The Perspective Of Semantic And Communicative Translation

Moment in Peking, as an outstanding masterpiece with high academic value written by Lin Yutang, fully reflects traditional Chinese custom, ethics, religious and daily life, which presents a panoramic picture of modern China. In the process of spreading Chinese culture, culture-loaded words play an essential role. Large numbers of culture-loaded words endowed with profound cultural connotation almost cover all aspects of Chinese traditional culture. Therefore the translation of culture-loaded words will directly affect target reader’s understanding of literary work to a great extent. However, due to different ways of expression, it is difficult for translators to find the correct or proper correspondents in English. Thus, in order to be able to transmit Chinese culture to Western world and enhance cultural exchanges, the conversion of culture-loaded words should be paid highly attention to.Quantities of researches have been done by researchers on the Chinese version and English version of Moment in Peking from the perspective of Reception Aesthetics, Eco-Translatology Theory, Postcolonial Theory, Relevance Theory and so on. There are, however, few research results of studies on the English version of Moment in Peking based on semantic and communicative translation theory. Hence, the author of this thesis tries to analyze the methods adopted by Lin Yutang in the first, and then further reveal the strategies employed to transform culture-loaded words.In the first place, culture-loaded words in this thesis are classified into three categories which are culture-loaded words related to historical aspects, culture-loaded words related to conventional aspects and culture-specific expressions. By this classification, readers are able to have a thorough and distinct view on culture-loaded words in Moment in Peking. In the second place, some typical examples of culture-loaded words are picked out to analyze translation method during Lin Yutang’s literary composing process. The thesis finds that methods adopted in Moment in Peking are mainly literal translation, free translation, transliteration, substitution, literal translation supplemented by explanation, transliteration supplemented by explanation and transliteration supplemented by literal translation. In the third place, the author makes a classification on these translation methods. Transliteration and literal translation are classified into semantic translation. Free translation and substitution belong to communicative translation. Transliteration with explanation, literal translation with explanation and transliteration supplemented by literal translation are classified as combination of semantic translation and communicative translation.Last but not the least, after the analysis of different methods and strategies. the author comes to the conclusion that Lin Yutang mainly adopts semantic translation strategy to transform Chinese culture-loaded words, when necessary, complemented by communicative translation. It is clear that Lin’s translation strategy not only promotes cultural communication but also consists with his translation criterions: "faithfulness" "expressiveness" and "beauty". The author hopes this study can provide some guidance for the transform of culture-loaded words.