The Transfer Of Culture Message In The Translation Of Zhuangzi

This article focuses on the transformation of cultural information in "Zhuangzi",selects Legge and Merton’s English versions as the research objects and uses domestication and foreignization strategies for exemplified analysis.It aims to compare cultural characteristics between Chinese and English,and to trace the ideological changes of translators,and we try to reasons why they choose that translation strategies and translation effects.Base on this,we summarize characteristics,advantages and disadvantages of the translation,in an attempt to spread Chinese culture in today’s society,it may be put forward some references.The thesis is divided into five parts: The Introduction is about the research objects,research ideas and research status of this article.The research ideas mainly summarize the cultural translation view,domestication and foreignization.Based on time clues,the current research status combs the English versions of "Zhuangzi" and the research on Legge and Merton’s versions at home and abroad.The First Chapter analyzes the domestication and foreignization strategies in Legge’s version through specific examples,mainly involving the foreignization of philosophical term "tian",philosophical thinking "anti-knowledge","I lose myself",the domestication of the unit of measurement,as well as the alienation of titles of the article,Translation of titles,philosophical term "Tao",names of people,names of books,names of places,and honorifics of modest words.The Second Chapter examines the domestication and foreignization in Merton’s version in the same way,mainly related to the domestication of the selected translation themes,the use of words and sentences,the addition and comment of the translation,and the foreignization of Zhuangzi’s main ideas.The Third Chapter tells us the characteristics,advantages and disadvantages of Legge and Merton’s version.About characteristics: they all respect Eastern culture and have a certain religious color and personal understanding tendency;their language styles also have their own characteristics.About advantages and disadvantages:Through the analysis of these two versions,Legge’s version is rich in textual research,accurate and authoritative but low in readability,Merton’s version has a vivid language,making a lively and accurately communication with the thoughts of Zhuangzi,but the content of the translation is too self-conscious.The Last part reflects on the role of translation in cross-cultural communication and how to balance domestication and foreignization.Then we have a conclusion that we should emphasis on the foreignization.Only in the contemporary era can the Chinese culture be better disseminated.Nowadays,Chinese culture urgently needs to go out and exert its influence.When translating classics into foreign countries,under the premise of ensuring the understanding of texts,we should use more foreignization strategies.Only based on the cultural characteristics of China can we achieve the purpose of spreading Chinese culture.