A Report On The Translation Of Steeped In History: The Art Of Tea Under The Theory Of Reception Aesthetics

This report is an analysis and summary on the translation of the excerpts from Steeped in History: the Art of Tea.The two excerpts introduce the development of tea culture in the most representative Asia-Pacific regions: Japan and America respectively,which hopefully could merit further research.The author of this report tries to translates and analyzes the excerpts under the guidance of Reception Aesthetic theory.Reception Aesthetic theory emphasizes readers’ active role in the reading process.Target readers’ acceptance is the primary and guiding point for translation activities.The translator first as a reader of the original text comprehends and concretizes the meaning in the process of acceptance,and then as an interpreter considers readers’ horizon of expectation and aesthetic diamond to enable target readers to fully understand and appreciate the meaning of the original text.Not only should the unique cultural characteristics of the original text be retained,but also the translated text be in accordance with readers’ aesthetic habits.This report conducts researches on typical cases from the perspectives of “readers’ horizon of expectation” and “concretization” which are two key concepts of Reception Aesthetic theory.“Horizon of expectation” is also divided into three major aspects,concerning about readers’ knowledge range,language habits and cultural aesthetics.This report aims to make an exploratory summary on the translation of cultural texts.Meanwhile it is expected to inject some new cases analysis and research reference into the translation study of tea culture.Through the analysis,conclusion can be drawn as follows.Concerning readers’ knowledge range,the translator needs to provide some necessary even detailed annotations.When it comes to readers’ language habits,the translator should fully grasp the cultural and linguistic psychology of target audience,and produce a natural as well as appealing version readers are willing to accept.As far as readers’ cultural aesthetics is concerned,the translator should focus on the characteristics of target readers’ mainstream culture and their general aesthetic acceptability with some adjustments to avoid taboos and antipathy.The translator also needs to concretize the content that may seem too abstract or subtle and make clearer about the possible indeterminacies in the original text properly.The translator should consider readers’ reception ability and aesthetic level,and adopt flexible translation strategies to achieve a similar function and effect of the original text.