Cultural Perspective Because ‘Integrated Approach’ deals with both the source culture and the target culture, it could be seen as a feasible translation theory of Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk. The cultural factors play an important role in modern Chinese literature. With the influence of western cultures, China experienced a transformation of literature in terms of linguistic forms and contents. Scholars such as Lu Xun proposed that vernaculars should be used. In addition, the focus of modern Chinese literature shifted to descriptions of life of the masses (Zhu, 2011). Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk was written in 1926. Lu Xun wrote it in order to remember his life experience during his teens. This literary work could inevitably cover some culture-based terms, some of which may not exist in English. According to Newmark (2001), culture is a particular language in a certain community. Some particular expressions exist in one community while there may not be equivalence in another. Under this situation, problems may arise in the translation process. Reiss (2000) proposed that when criticizing one translation, extra-linguistic determinants such as the cultural factor should also be examined. In the level C of ‘Integrated Approach’, both cultures of the source language and the target language are covered. In this view, ‘Integrated Approach’ has considered the culture factors which are common problems when translating texts. In Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk, there are many culture-based expressions in terms of places, food, particular concepts.
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For example, there is a particular character- ‘长妈妈’ in Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Duck. It is translated as ‘Mama Chang’. The expression of ‘长妈妈’ does not exist in English. ‘长妈妈’ refers to the housemaid who looked after Lu Xun when he was little. Apart from names of people, there are also particular places such as ‘百草园’ and ‘三味书屋’. These are certain cultures of China, and English does not have certain equivalents for these expressions. Therefore, as ‘Integrated Approach’ has covered, cultural expressions could deserve value in a translating process. Because sometimes there is not an existing expression in the target language, problems may arise when translating culture-based terms. For translation strategies of cultural terms, Snell-Hornby proposed that both the source culture and the target culture should be considered. In 1996, Javier Franco Aixelá, a Spanish translator, summarized 11 translation strategies in order to deal with cultural expressions. In consideration of both ideas of Snell-Hornby and Aixelá, translation strategies such as linguistic-translation, limited universalization and naturalization could function well. Linguistic-translation method refers to use a term that is in the target language while it could be considered as one in the source language …show more content…
By doing so, it is also easier to be understood by target readers. For example, in From Hundred-Plant Garden to Three-Flavour Study, ‘长文公’ is rendered as ‘Zhu Xi’ instead of ‘Chang Wengong’ (Lu, 2009). In fact, ‘长文公’ refers to Zhu Xi, a Confucian scholar in Song dynasty. ‘长文公’ is a particular Chinese address used in old China. Therefore, people in foreign countries are more likely familiar with the name –Zhu Xi because it is a name of a well-known person in Song dynasty. In this view, the translation is well done.
Naturalization translation method refers to adopt a cultural term in the target language to replace the original one in the source language (Aixelá, 1996). For example, in Wu Chang or Life-Is-Transient, ‘阴司间’ is translated as ‘the Court of Hell’ (Lu, 2009). The image of ‘阴司间’ in Chinese is similar as the one of hell in English. To make it easier for English speakers to understand, it is good to render ‘阴司间’ as ‘the Court of
For example, there is a particular character- ‘长妈妈’ in Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Duck. It is translated as ‘Mama Chang’. The expression of ‘长妈妈’ does not exist in English. ‘长妈妈’ refers to the housemaid who looked after Lu Xun when he was little. Apart from names of people, there are also particular places such as ‘百草园’ and ‘三味书屋’. These are certain cultures of China, and English does not have certain equivalents for these expressions. Therefore, as ‘Integrated Approach’ has covered, cultural expressions could deserve value in a translating process. Because sometimes there is not an existing expression in the target language, problems may arise when translating culture-based terms. For translation strategies of cultural terms, Snell-Hornby proposed that both the source culture and the target culture should be considered. In 1996, Javier Franco Aixelá, a Spanish translator, summarized 11 translation strategies in order to deal with cultural expressions. In consideration of both ideas of Snell-Hornby and Aixelá, translation strategies such as linguistic-translation, limited universalization and naturalization could function well. Linguistic-translation method refers to use a term that is in the target language while it could be considered as one in the source language …show more content…
By doing so, it is also easier to be understood by target readers. For example, in From Hundred-Plant Garden to Three-Flavour Study, ‘长文公’ is rendered as ‘Zhu Xi’ instead of ‘Chang Wengong’ (Lu, 2009). In fact, ‘长文公’ refers to Zhu Xi, a Confucian scholar in Song dynasty. ‘长文公’ is a particular Chinese address used in old China. Therefore, people in foreign countries are more likely familiar with the name –Zhu Xi because it is a name of a well-known person in Song dynasty. In this view, the translation is well done.
Naturalization translation method refers to adopt a cultural term in the target language to replace the original one in the source language (Aixelá, 1996). For example, in Wu Chang or Life-Is-Transient, ‘阴司间’ is translated as ‘the Court of Hell’ (Lu, 2009). The image of ‘阴司间’ in Chinese is similar as the one of hell in English. To make it easier for English speakers to understand, it is good to render ‘阴司间’ as ‘the Court of