A Study On The English Translation Of Yan Lianke's Ding Zhuang Meng From The Perspective Of Aesthetic Of Reception

Ding Zhuang Meng, as one of the repres entatives of Yan Lianke(1958-), was launched in 2006 by the Shanghai Literature a nd Art Publishing House, which is the first novel to m ake the exploration and expr ession of AIDS as its writing them e in China. As to its writing style, Ding Zhuang Meng is both full of the docum entary descriptions in a realistic way, and f illed up with the am azing and f antastic imaginations; in addition, it is real but imaginary, deeply shocking but also m oving and cautionary. Cindy Carter(1969-), an excellent Am erican freelance translator, translated Dream of Ding V illageinto English in 201 1.Then, the Grove Press published and introducedthe English version of Dream of Ding V illage to th e English-speaking countries, which not onl y rapidly got the coverage of these overseas mainstream media, but als o harvested a rathe r good readers' acceptance. Therefore, this paper attem pts to analyze the English translation of Dream of Ding Villageas a typical case of Chinese literature's going outside to the world.With the “cultural turn” of the translation studies, the studies on the En glish translation of Chinese literature has also been pursuing the breakthroughs and innovationsin perspectives. This paper, based on the translation studies, will explore the English translation of Dream of Ding Village which is translated by Cindy Carter from its selection, translation, publication, a nd reception, in the light of aesthetic of reception. According to the aesthetic of r eception, the natu re of the translation is given a renewed interpretation; the translation should regard the readers' response as a reference; the translators' dominant role as the information receivers in the process of translation and the reference position of the target readers should be em phasized; thetranslation should take the target readers' reactions into consideration.The paper, based on the two key words of aesthetic of reception, namely, “the dynamic role of the readers” and the “ horizon of expe ctationsof thereaders”, explores the factors, includi ng the p ublisher, the translator, the m ainstream media and the general readers, thatexert effects on the English translation of Dream of Ding Village, and reveals their influence and role s in the communication process of the English translation. The paper, combined with the aesthetic of reception theory, gives an analysis of the typical cas e, which makes it clear that the translation process is affected by m any factors, and points out that the success and the ef fective communication of the English translations ove rseas must take the im portant role of all kinds of readers in the translation process and the non-te xt factorsbesides translationinto consideration.