Research On Translator’s Creative Treason From The Perspective Of Reception Aesthetics

Martial arts literature is a unique genre in Chinese literature that has regional,historical,and cultural characteristics.Since the 1970 s,martial arts fiction has begun to be translated into foreign languages,and the study on the C-E translation of martial arts fiction has been carried out successively.In the process of cross-lingual and cross-cultural translation of literary works,there is always a gap between the translation and the original work,and the translator’s creative treason is inevitable.The C-E translation of martial arts fiction also shows translators’ creative treason,and the exploration of this phenomenon is conducive to the translation and dissemination of Chinese literature.This thesis takes the C-E translation of martial arts fiction A Hero Born: Legends of the Condor Heroes I,as a case study,adopts a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods,explores the concrete manifestation and acceptance of the translator’s creative treason in the C-E translation of the first volume of Legends of the Condor Heroes,and discusses the factors influencing the translator’s creative treason in the C-E translation of martial arts fiction from the perspective of Reception Aesthetics,summarizing the translator Anna Holmwood’s strategies and methods for the C-E translation of martial arts fiction.Through literature study and statistical analysis of English book reviews,it is found that,firstly,in the process of the C-E translation of the first volume of Legends of the Condor Heroes,the translator Anna Holmwood’s creative treason is mainly manifested in three specific ways:(1)personalized translation of personal names,nicknames,and martial arts moves;(2)mistranslation and omission;(3)rewriting of paragraph forms and chapter structures as well as additions and deletions of the content.Secondly,empirical data based on two types of English book reviews,overseas media book reviews and online platform Goodreads reader book reviews,show that the target language readers present polarized evaluations of the concrete manifestation of the translator Anna Holmwood’s creative treason,with an overall high degree of acceptance.The findings suggest that,in the process of the C-E translation of martial arts fiction,the translator Anna Holmwood’s dual identity as reader and author,the constraint of horizon of expectation on the translator,and her open interpretation of the original text’s affective structure jointly affect the translator’s creative treason.The translator Anna Holmwood does not cling to the language form of the original work but flexibly adopts the translation strategies of combining domestication and foreignization,as well as methods like literal translation,free translation,addition,omission,etc.,achieving a higher level of fusion of horizons and better acceptance for the target language readers.The purpose of this study is to deepen the understanding of translators’ creative treason in the C-E translation of martial arts fiction,advance the reader reception study of the C-E translation of martial arts fiction,and promote Chinese martial arts literature going global.