Abstract Over the past several centuries, China has learned a lot from western countries about their cultures. As a result, mainstream English literary works sell surprisingly well in China. The Chinese culture, on the other hand, has failed to attract international attention. Chinese classics, such as The Journey to the West, are important carriers of the time-honoured Chinese culture and play a significant role in the efforts to export our culture. The Journey to the West, a classic Chinese fantasy novel that depicts Chinese society back then, came to light in the West a long time ago. The first English version of The Journey to the West dates back to 1913. In 2015, the English version of The Journey to the West translated by Anthony C. Yu was republished by Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Among various translations, Anthony C. Yu’s English version is rather comprehensive and accurate. This thesis takes up Anthony C. Yu’s version of The Journey to the West as the research subject to do a case study within the framework of the Skopostheorie, aiming to show how the translation of The Journey to the West is intended to achieve a better understanding of traditional Chinese culture among English readers, and to further explore the logical relation between translation and cultural soft power.42983
The thesis draws the following major conclusive ideas. Firstly, cultural soft power can be manifested by way of translation works. Secondly, viewing from the perspective of the Skopostheorie, the translator adopts foreignization strategy and related translation methods such as literal translation and omission, to let the English version of The Journey to the West make sense to target readers and to enable Chinese classics get well-accepted overseas. Thirdly, in order to spread Chinese culture in the world, we should make efforts to decide on appropriate translation strategies and methods in the translation of Chinese classic literary works, and hence ultimately enhance China’s cultural soft power.
Key words: The Journey to the West Anthony C. Yu’s English version translation the Skopostheorie Cultural Soft Power
摘要过去百余年,中国从西方各国大量地汲取了文化元素,英美及欧洲等主要发达国家的主流文学作品在中国也一直深受欢迎+优尔"文'论[文]网:www.youerw.com,畅销不绝。但是,反观中国文化,尤其是传统的中国经典文学作品似乎自始至终一直没有被国际认可、没有能够真正地融入国际社会。中国经典文学作品是中国传统文化的重要载体。作为中国古典四大名著之一的《西游记》是中国古代第一部浪漫主义长篇神魔小说,深刻地描绘了当时中国的社会现实。因此,《西游记》很早便引起了西方世界的关注,从1913年开始陆续有译者将其译为英文。2015年,上海外语教育出版社重新出版了余国藩的《西游记》英译本。该译本内容全面,准确性和翻译技巧也比较高。本文以余国藩的《西游记》英译本为研究对象,以目的论为理论框架,试图探究余国藩的《西游记》译本如何让国外读者更好地了解中国传统文化,并据此探究翻译与文化软实力之间的内在关系。
本研究得出以下主要结论:第一,文化软实力可以通过翻译作品表现出来;第二,从目的论的角度出发来审视这部译作,可以看出译者采用异化翻译策略以及直译、省略等翻译方法,从而使得这部作品更好地为外国读者所理解、接受,使中国文学经典所表达的思想和文化在国外传播;第三,为了中国文化在海外的传播,为了提升中国文化软实力,我们在翻译中国文学经典时必须努力寻求、确定合适的翻译策略和方法。
毕业论文关键词:《西游记》 余国藩英译本 翻译 目的论 文化软实力