Cultural Back-translation Strategies From The Perspective Of Imagology

Translation is an important vehicle for image construction and communication.The national image building and disseminating has become an indispensable part of translation practice and theoretical research.As international exchanges continue to grow,the image of China in literature is becoming more objective and diverse.However,compared with translation of Chinese culture into foreign languages,research is not sufficient on translating foreign-language-written Chinese narratives into Chinese context.This particular phenomenon is called cultural back-translation which is of research value.It can help us examine ourselves through the eyes of the other,and at the same time reveal the complex interaction between translation and culture,ideology,etc.,and promote Chinese culture from another direction.This is a qualitative case study on Country Driving and its Chinese translation,which focuses on the strategy of cultural back-translation and adopts Pageaux’s imagological approach as the theoretical framework jointly with close reading,comparative analysis and intertextuality analysis.The research first reviews the history of imagology and relevant translation studies,and studies on cultural back-translation;then compares and analyzes whether images have changed during cultural back-translation through typical examples and explores the factors at play;finally concludes cultural back-translation strategies and makes suggestions for the translation of such texts.The study concludes that,first,most of the characters are objectively and faithfully reproduced in the translation,but the translator strengthened the natural environment and customs of the rural areas in northern China to meet readers’ psychological expectations.The translator weakened or corrected stereotypes of China.There are only two cuts of paragraphs-length in the translation,both of which are related to sensitive topics.Second,the translator used a lot of expressions with Chinese characteristics,such as four-character phrases and colloquialisms,in order to present the native culture.Cultural back-translation is subject to various influences.In terms of the purpose of translation,the translator strived to align with the cognitive habits of Chinese readers to improve the readability and appreciation of the translated text.Additionally,other factors include increased interest of readers in understanding China from the perspective of the other,a more active publishing market,and ideological differences.Third,restoration and reconstruction are the main strategies for cultural backtranslation.For quotations and allusions taken directly from the Chinese cultural context by the author,the translator restored them in the original Chinese as much as possible.While for the purpose of enriching details and depicting vivid characters and settings,the translator tended to reconstruct images.More broadly,translators are suggested to experience dual contextualization,grasp Self-Other conflicts and fully consider the intertextuality of the text in order to return to the context of native culture during E-C translation of Chinese narratives.