A Comparative Study On The Translation Of The Culture-Loaded Words In Two English Versions Of The Analects

The Analects which focuses on Confucianism is the foundation of Chinese culture. The content of The Analects is concerned with many aspects such as philosophy, politics, economy, art, education, etc, which has a profound influence on Chinese thought and culture. As Confucian culture which is represented by The Analects gradually enters into the world, the translation of Chinese classics attracts more and more translators'concern. The thesis chooses two authorized versions Waley, an English scholar, and Ku Hungming,a master of Chinese culture, from multiple English versions of The Analects to conduct a comparative research focusing on the translation of culture-loaded words in two English versions of The Analects in an attempt to study further about this great work and find out the cultural translation strategies of Chinese classics.Theoretical frame of the thesis is Susan Bassnett's cultural translation theory. Bassnett puts more emphasis on the status of culture and the meaning of translation to culture. Cultural school represented by her have reflected on the general condition of translation and put forward cultural translation theory. They think text is that translators understand the author's intensions and cast these intensions into another kind of culture in the form of linguistics so that translation is manipulation and coordination rather than imitation and duplication. Cultural translation theory holds that translation is not only the transition of two language systems but also a kind of cross-cultural communication, aiming at advocating native culture, spreading foreign culture, remaining cultural diversity and promoting the development of multi-culture. Therefore, during translation, translators should transmit or transplant cultural factors in source languages and make target readers appreciate exotic cultural features and gain the same feeling as the readers in source languages so that the purpose of cultural exchange is achieved.There is a multitude of research on the English Translation of The Analects for the moment but most research has been done from the aspect of linguistics diachronically and the research from the perspective of culture-loaded words is inadequate. The thesis classifies culture-loaded words in The Analects into five categories:linguistic culture-loaded words, material culture-loaded words, ecological culture-loaded words, social culture-loaded words and religious culture-loaded words. Through comparing and analyzing the translation of culture-loaded words in two English versions by Gu Hungming and Waley, the author points out the differences of the way to handle the culture-loaded words in two English words and puts forward the translation strategies of culture-loaded words in The Analects. The thesis compares and analyzes the translation of culture-loaded words in two English versions by Waley and Ku, living almost in the same period but coming from different countries and it has illustrated the real cultural connotation of The Analects for the purpose of trying to reveal the true face of each version objectively under the guideline of cultural translation theory. Different identities, education background and life experiences, etc of the two translators contribute to the diversity of the versions. Systematic comparison of the culture-loaded words in two versions will show more valuable information about the translation of the culture-loaded words in the classics.Through comparison on the translation of the culture-loaded words in two English versions by Waley and Ku Hungming, the thesis draws the following conclusions:1. Common problems exist in the translation of The Analects:misunderstanding of the original text; Cultural differences of western and eastern culture leads to the understanding derivation during linguistic transformation; translation fails to achieve equivalent effects completely; loss of the cultural connotation in the source language.2. Under the guideline of cultural translation theory, translators should grasp from macro and micro levels when translating The Analects. Macro strategy means considering cultural factors and achieving semantic transformation on the basis of understanding the cultural connotation of the source language deeply. Macro strategies include foreignization and domestication. Micro strategy means the specific translation methods involved in the translated versions of The Analects, for example, literal method, liberal method, transliteration method, annotation method, transformation method, etc.3. Ku Hungming is inclined to foreigniztion strategy. His version mainly used liberal and transformation methods to achieve the effect of foreigniztion. Waley is inclined to domestication strategy. His version mainly used literal, annotation and transliteration methods to achieve the effect of domestication. As for each kind of translation method, the author finds that:1) Ku Hungming used the literal method most frequently in the translation of linguistic culture-loaded words.2) Waley used literal method frequently in the translation of ecological culture-loaded words and social culture-loaded words. 3)Transformation method is mainly used in the translation of social culture-loaded words in Ku's translation version.4) Annotation method is often seen in the translation of material culture-loaded words in Waley's version.5) Liberal method is used most frequently in the translation of material culture-loaded words in Ku's version.6) Transliteration method is often seen in Waley's version in terms of the culture-loaded words concerned with the names of places or persons.