从功能对等理论看《红楼梦》中颜色词语的翻译(2)
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements. i
Abstract. ii
摘要. iii
1 Introduction. 1
2 Functional Equivalence and Cross-cultural Translation 2
2.1 Introduction of Functional Equivalence 2
2.2 Cross-cultural Translation. 3
2.3 The Application and Limitation of Functional Equivalence. 3
3 Research on Color Terms and Their Translation 5
3.1 Morphological Comparison of Color Terms 6
3.2 Lexical Meaning Comparison of Color Terms 7
3.3 Cultural Differences of in Cross-cultural Communication 8
3.4 The Translation of Color in Different Cultural Backgrounds.9
3.5 Significance of Functional Equivalence in Translating Color Terms10
4 Cases Study on the Translation of Color Terms in Hong Long Meng 11
4.1 An Overview of the Two Versions of Translation of Color Terms 11
4.2 Approaches to the Translation of Color Terms 12
4.3 Cultural Problems in the Translation of Color Terms in Hong Long Meng 12
4.4 Semantic Problems in the Translation of Color Terms in Hong Long Meng 13
4.5 The Hidden Meaning of Color Words and Their Translation Strategies .14
5 Conclusion. 16
Bibliography. 17
1 Introduction
This paper is aimed at figuring out the use of Nida’s perspective of functional equivalence in the translation of Hong Lou Meng. As established in one of the Four Chinese Famous Classical Books in the history of world literature, Hong Lou Meng by Cao Xueqin and Gao E enjoys a high reputation in the world. This great novel focused on the tragic love between Chia Paoyu and Lin Tai-yu, it also provides a panorama of the lives of different people in the feudal dynasty. In this paper, Nida’s theory will be employed to explore the translation approaches of the color terms in this book deeply and practically.
Nowadays, Hong Lou Meng has become a popular trend in China or abroad on the study of the original novel and its translated versions, forming a new doctrine called Red-ology. The studies on the English versions of Hong Lou Meng have offered new perspectives and insights into the studies of Chinese literature. An increasing number of scholars and experts published their studies on those academic periodicals, mainly on the translation approaches and the comparison and contrast of the two complete versions namely A Dream of Red mansions translated by Chinese translator Yang Hsien-yi and his wife Gladys Yang and The Story of the Stone translated by British translator Davis Hawkes and his son-in-law John Minford. The Story of the Stone by Davis Hawkes was published in 1973. It was the first English Version of Hon Lou Meng in the world and became a huge success. A Dream of Red mansions was published in 1974 and the author tinted many Chinese custom and flavor. For example, Yang translated the name of the book “hong” into “red mansions”, which contained a profound Chinese traditional culture. Generally, translation plays a very important role in intercultural communication. No matter which country it is, the translation is closely bound up with the development of a country’s culture, education, business, and so on. As a vast amount of color terms are used by authors in this novel, more and more scholars generate their interest from the efforts of the translation of color terms in this novel. Most of the color terms in Hong Lou Meng have lost their original meaning and have assumed cultural connotation for different national styles. This paper tries to analyze the translation of color terms in Hong Lou Meng from a functional equivalence perspective.
2 Functional Equivalence and Cross-cultural Translation
Since more and more people consider translation as an act of cultural communication, translators believe that language is used to express culture and meanwhile it is a component of culture itself. Trough translation, people can learn other nations and their different cultures. Therefore, translation has to deal with the problem of both culture and language. By using the method of functional equivalence in translation work, people can master the two languages very well and understand the two cultures deeply and thoroughly.