A Study On The English Translation Of Fuzzy Expressions In Lun Yu

Lun Yu, as a great classic and the most influential symbol of Chinese culture, has played a significant role in human progress as well as in the cultural communication around world. Expressions in LunYu are well-known for their conciseness, unique aesthetic feature and rich cultural connotations. However, researches on translation of fuzzy language in LunYu are far from enough, and even fewer through the combination of fuzzy language and cultural context.Fuzzy language, closely connected with culture, surely reflects the unique cultural characteristics. The big gap between English and Chinese culture becomes a barrier to the interpretation and translation of fuzzy language. As a result, the profound and rich cultural connotations in the source language can’t be truly conveyed if it’s isolated from the cultural and historical context. Therefore the translators should pay much heed to cultural elements and handle the unique cultural characteristics properly, only by this means can the function of cultural communication be finally realized. Gu Hongming sets a good example in this aspect and his English version of LunYu deserves to be researched.Based on the previous findings of fuzzy language researches, focused on Gu Hongming’s English translation of fuzzy expressions in LunYu, guided by the theories of fuzzy language and cultural context, this thesis will probe into Mr. Gu’s understanding and translation strategies of fuzzy language at rhetorical, cultural and aesthetic levels through qualitative analysis of representative examples. The aim of this present research is to provide a new special research perspective for the study on English translation of fuzzy expressions in LunYu and give a little implication on the other Chinese classical works’ translation.It’s concluded that cultural difference gives rise to fuzziness inevitably which reflects cultural uniqueness on the other hand. Cultural context plays an important role in the C-E fuzzy language translation in the following two aspects: firstly, it facilitates to define the denotation and connotation of the fuzzy expressions in the source language. Secondly, to some degree, it provides a reference framework to adjust or approximate target language and come up with a compromise, that is to say, a common ground between two cultures. Because of the cultural difference and lack of direct equivalents in target language, a translator, when translating fuzzy expressions, often adopts free translation strategies such as noting, paraphrasing, expounding, etc. so as to bridge the gap between two cultures.