The Problems Of And Solutions To Tibetan Cultural Image Translation

In culture “going out” strategy, translation plays an important role and translation of Chinese outstanding literary works is one way to achieve this goal. As a crucial part of Chinese culture, Tibetan culture is an essential part of culture “going out” strategy. Chen Ai Luo Ding, the winner of the fifth Mao Dun Literature Award, is an outstanding literary work with rich Tibetan culture. Therefore, the novel should be translated abroad and shoulders the responsibility of helping the world understand Tibet, Tibetan and Tibetan culture.The rich Tibetan culture of Chen Ai Luo Ding mostly reflects in Tibetan cultural images.When making a comparative analysis on Tibetan cultural images in Chinese and English texts of Chen Ai Luo Ding and Red Poppies, the author finds there exists the loss, distortion and transformation of image. The author further raises the questions: whether the cultural image translation in the English text can ideally achieve the goal of Tibetan culture “going out”? If the answer is not adequate, then how should the translator translate cultural images against the backgroundof culture “going out”? The translation study never stops the steps of exploring cultural image translation and has gained some achievements. From the result of literature review, scholars have discussed the intertextuality of cultural image, reasons for cultural image loss and the translation strategy. But their conclusions and strategies cannot well and completely solve the problem of the loss, distortion and transformation of image especially for the purpose of culture “going out”. Furthermore, no scholar explores the translation of Tibetan cultural image from the two aspects of “Yi” and “Xiang” for the purpose of Tibetan culture “going out”. Therefore, it is a remained task for this thesis to explore how to translate Tibetan cultural image for the purpose of Tibetan culture “going out”.Lawrence Venuti(1995) argues that domesticating is deliberate to remove the difference and foreignness of the original text, which will naturally lead to cultural loss. His Theory of Foreignizing and Resistancy can just avoid the loss, distortion and transformation of cultural images because this theory advocates preserving the differences and foreignness in the original text as much as possible, which lays the theoretical foundation for the research of Tibetan cultural image translation. Moreover, Tibetan cultural image translation for Tibetan culture “going out” will be influenced by translation purpose of Chinese culture. Under the guidance of translation theory and practice, the author implants “image”, “Yi” or “Xiang”according to the specific loss of cultural image in the original English translation and suggests applying the translation strategy of image explicitation to translate Tibetan cultural images.And the author retranslates some Tibetan cultural images by implanting “Yi”, “Xiang” or both so as to preserve and transmit Tibetan culture in translated text.This thesis employs the methods of literature analysis, qualitative research and translation case analysis to discuss the translation of Tibetan cultural image against the background of Chinese culture “going out”. The thesis finally concludes that when translating Tibetan cultural images against the background of Tibetan culture “going out”, translator should preserve and highlight the whole “image”, the carrier of cultural foreignness, in translation by implanting “Yi”, “Xiang” or both to avoid the loss, distortion and transformation of cultural image, and to make sure that Tibetan culture goes out successfully and goes out in Tibetan cultural identity.