On The Text-less Back Translation Of Inter-textual Phenomena In Moment In Peking

Moment in Peking,a masterpiece written by Lin Yutang in English,tells us a story about the rise and fall of three big families—Yao,Tseng,and New from 1900 to1938 in China,reflecting the society and custom of modern China.It is known as“Modern Version of Hong Lou Meng”.In short,it is a book about China but written in English.The back translation of this kind of books characterized by western form and Chinese content is unique and distinctive.Many scholars have realized the distinctiveness,but there is no consensus in terms of the name of this kind of translation.Many names have been given by different scholars,such as “Special Back Translation”,“Back Translation of Culture”,“The Restoration of Culture”,and“Re-translation.” Unfortunately,none of them is able to expound the typical translation thoroughly.In this context,Professor Wang Hongyin generated the new concept,“Text-less Back Translation”,based on his long-time study of the English novel Moment in Peking and its Chinese versions.The new theory is not only able to enrich back translation,but also provide theoretical foundation for the translation of similar books featured by western form and Chinese content.The thesis,based on the study of Back Translation,explores the definition,scope,features,and significance of Text-less Back Translation by the comparison of two Chinese versions of Moment in Peking in the hope of enriching and promoting the new concept.In the novel,there is a sea of Inter-textual Phenomena,such as quotation,allusion,and idiom,which appear in the form of English.Then,what are the proper strategies to back translate them? Based on Norman Fairclough's classification of Intertextuality and the reality of Moment in Peking,the thesis probes into the translation of manifest inter-textual phenomena from five aspects—quotation,allusion,parody,explanation,and idiom,and that of constitutive inter-textual phenomena from three aspects—genre,style and Hong Lou Meng by way of comparison between two distinctive Chinese versions,which are Jing Hua Yan Yun rendered by Zhang Zhenyu and Shun Xi Jing Hua translated by Yu Fei,the former being faithful to local culture while the latter to the English novel.After the comparative analysis and exploration of Inter-textual Phenomena in Chinese versions,the thesis proposes three principles to back translate similar books,which are optimal intertextuality,domestication priority and culture-oriented creativity.It is hoped that the research will enlighten the translation of similar books characterized by western form and Chinese content.