A Study On The English Translation Of Cultural Images In The Epic Of Baeuqloxgdoh From The Perspective Of Thick Translation

Translating Chinese classical works into other languages is an important way for China to enhance its cultural soft power in the world.The translation of Zhuang classics into English is conducive to the cultural exchange between China and the West,to the export of excellent culture of the Zhuang ethnic group.It is also an important way for the Zhuang ethnic group to step into the big stage of the world with its colorful culture.Thick translation is a concept put forward by Kwame Anthony Appiah,an American translation theorist,in his article Thick Translation in 1993.It means the translation locates the text in a rich cultural and linguistic context through annotations and explanatory comments.Professor Cao Minglun suggested in one of his articles that thick translation should be divided into explicit thick translation and implicitthick translation.The Epic of Baeuqloxgdoh is a collection of religious oral epics about the story of Baeuqloxgdoh popular among the Zhuang people.It is a great ethnic minority epic with important cultural significance.Based on the thick translation strategy,this thesis takes The Epic of Baeuqloxgdoh(abbreviated to The Epic in “Contents”)as the objective to discuss the presentation of implicit thick translation strategy and implicit thick translation strategy in its English version translated by Han Jiaquan and his team,studies the expression of cultural images under different thick translation strategies,reveals the communication function of thick translation on meanings,emotions,and cultural connotations,so as to provide a research perspective for the translation of Chinese culture.Findings are summarized as follows: First,the thick translation strategy presented in The Epic of Baeuqloxgdoh has different forms.The implicit thick translation strategy is presented on the level of words and expressions,sentence patterns,and contexts;while explicit thick translation strategy is presented through annotations,additional contents,and illustrations.Second,thick translation strategy effectively promotes the translation of cultural images in The Epic of Baeuqloxgdoh,compensates for the cultural default in the process of the English translation,and well realizes the overseas cultural communication of Chinese cultural images.Third,although the thick translation strategy will to some extent affect the readers’ reading rhythm and blur the boundaries of the primary text and the secondary text,it well preserves the cultural value and aesthetic value of the original text and deepens readers’ understanding of the cultural images in the translation.Therefore,the thick translation strategy can be regarded as an effective way to promote the overseas cultural communication of Zhuang literary classics and Zhuang culture.