Thick Translation:Classifications Of Annotations And The Relevant Reflections

The term "thick translation" was put forward by American scholar Kwame Anthony Appiah in his article "Thick Translation" in 1993 in Callaloo. He defines it as the translation that "seeks with its annotations and its accompanying glosses to locate the text in a rich cultural and linguistic context." The study, based on "thick translation" studies, will conduct a comparative study of the categories of annotation in Ku Hungming’s and James Legge’s versions of Zhongyong in order to enrich and deepen "thick translation" thoughts and to pave the way for the scholarization of translators and the dissemination of Chinese culture.As originally one chapter in the Classic of Rites, Zhongyong, along with The Analects, Daxue and Mengzi, is called the Four Books. It is a profound Chinese classic and is also influential in the intellectual histories of both China and the whole world. Therefore, researches on the translation of Zhongyong are becoming increasingly popular among scholars. Since the translation of Zhongyong began in the middle of the 16th century, James Legge’s Doctrine of the Mean and Ku Hungming’s The Universal Order or Conduct of Life have exerted great impacts in the field of translation till now.Employing the methodology of descriptive studies, the author analyzes thick translation in James Legge’s Doctrine of the Mean and Ku Hungming’s The Universal Order or Conduct of Life in the perspective of the categories of thick translation. In order to present the study more clearly, annotations are put emphasis on in the thesis.Annotations of thick translation can be divided into intellectual annotations and research annotations. Intellectual annotations are made of explanatory annotations, referential annotations, and comparative annotations, while research annotations include discovery annotations and critical annotations.Through the analysis of categories of thick translation in contents and forms, similarities and differences are discussed. Based on the analysis, the thesis elucidates the influences of intra-translation factors such as translators’ background knowledge and translating abilities, and extra-translation factors such as era backgrounds and translators’cultural identities on their thick translation.In academic circles, it is generally believed that "thick translation" is always employed by "scholarly translator". However, the thesis shows that translators with the cultural identities of translator and scholar, influenced by intra-translation and extra-translation factors, develop into two different kinds of translators-scholarly translator and translatorial scholar. Based on the analysis of these two kinds of translator, the thesis points out it is the core factor leading to the differences of categories of thick translation.Moreover, the thesis also involves a theoretical reflection of "thick translation" thoughts, and advocates "the scholarization of translator". It exerts great practical and theoretical significance on the practice of translation and translation criticism and the dissemination of Chinese culture.