On The Translation Of Martial Arts Fiction From The Perspective Of Reception Aesthetics

Jin Yong,as the most read writer in China,has influenced several generations of Chinese with his martial arts fiction.Efforts have been made since the 1990 s to introduce these novels into the western world.However,it is not an easy task.As a unique literary genre in China,martial arts fiction faces special problems in its translation.In addition,Jin’s ficiton is also filled with historical and cultural elements.It is hard to be appreciated by English readers who lack relevant background knowledge of martial arts and have different cultural psychology and aesthetic feelings.Fortunately,although there are only four English versions until now,martial arts fiction has already won over some western readers with its fascinating and highly readable stories.As cultures become more integrated and more acceptable to each other,it is possible for martial arts fiction to travel successfully to the West.This thesis analyzes the characteristics of Jin Yong’s martial arts fiction and then summarizes three translation problems: historical and cultural elements,martial arts,and xia culture.Based on a case study of The Deer and the Cauldron,the thesis examines the translator John Minford’s strategies and methods for coping with these problems.Having studied the translation,the author of this thesis discovers that Minford concerns much about readers’ reception of the novel.Therefore,this thesis tries to investigate the translation of The Deer and the Cauldron from the perspective of reception aesthetics.According to this theory,the text is an appeal structure.Readers enter the text with their horizon of expectations and then actively participate in reading and concretizing the implicit information.Key concepts including “blank”,“concretization”,“horizon of expectations” under this theory will be employed to study translation phenomena in The Deer and the Cauldron.It is found that Minford concerns about target readers’ horizon of expectations,including their cultural psychology,the capacity of comprehension and habitual use of language.He tends to actualize the potential meaning and add background information in his translation.Minford has a good grasp of the essence of martial arts fiction and adopts different methods to solve the three translation difficulties mentioned above.First,concerning historical elements,the translator selectively reduces the density of information to improve the readability of the target text.At the same time,he employs methods such as adaptation and amplification of background information to promote readers’ understanding.Second,martial arts elements are retained as much as possible.The translator faithfully renders terms and Kungfu-related scenes by means of literal translation and transliteration to keep the Chinese flavor of these elements.Besides,he provides in most cases explanations that evoke readers’ former experiences and knowledge and enable them to form new horizon of expectations.Finally,as to xia culture,Minford concretizes the xia culture by making explicit the potential meaning.Thus,the translator creates a vivid martial arts world for English readers.