A Study On The Translation Of The Heterogeneous Culture In Chen Ai Luo Ding From Ecological Perspective

Since its publication in 1998,Tibetan writer Alai’s masterpiece Chen Ai Luo Ding has won many literary awards,including Mao Dun Literary Award.In 2002,co-translated by renowned translators Howard Goldblatt and his wife Sylvia Li-chun Lin as Red Poppies,the book was published by Houghton Mifflin Company,a mainstream commercial publisher in America.The heterogeneous cultural elements in the novel contribute to its uniqueness and artistic value,but also bring difficulties for translation.To examine the English translation of the heterogeneous culture in Chen Ai Luo Ding in a comprehensive way,it would be helpful to adopt theories in Eco-Translatology.Concerning translation studies from ecological perspective,Eco-Translatology initiated by Professor Hu Gengshen is the most popular theory in China,as it approaches translation from a holistic view.However,the ambiguities in its concepts may lead to a random selection by the translator,a theoretical defect that could be mended by the concept of “uncanny ecology”.Based on the etymological affinity between Freud’s “uncanny” theory and “ecology”,“uncanny ecology” is creatively introduced.It highlights the dual attributes of ecology as both strange and familiar to people,which is in some way analogous to the reconciliation of domestication and foreignization in translation.Therefore,with the ecological perspective formed by integrating Eco-Translatology and uncanny ecology,this thesis is a case study exploring how Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin adapt and select in their translation of the heterogeneous culture in Chen Ai Luo Ding and whether their translation practice demonstrates uncanny ecology.On this basis,the thesis further discusses the holistic and balanced view of translating the heterogeneous culture from ecological perspective.This thesis shows that in rewriting the title of the novel and replacing Tibetan cultural images,the translators selectively adapt to the demand of the target readers and publishers and select domestication strategy to change the unfamiliar elements into familiar ones;while translating Alai’s Third Space Language and ecological view,they selectively adapt to the original work and choose foreignization strategy to retain unfamiliar elements.As a result,the translated text is both familiar and unfamiliar to the target readers,constructing an uncanny ecology in the target text.Therefore,an ecological translation of the heterogeneous culture should adapt to the holistic translational eco-environment and select to achieve a balance between domestication and foreignization in translation.