Abstract The novel, The scarlet letter, is Hawthorne’s masterpiece. It is its themes with deep thinking, rich imagination, unique writing techniques that mark a major breakthrough on the creation of long novels. It reflects the ideological and artistic characteristics of Hawthorne. Since the first Chinese version by Han Shiheng was published, the amount of Chinese versions has increased to 34 in the past decades. Different translators use different translation strategies in their versions, so in literary translating, the debate on the two translation strategies, domestication and foreignization, has been continued until now. This thesis is a case study of the two Chinese translations of The Scarlet Letter (Han Shiheng’s version in1954 and Yao Naiqiang’s version in 1996) from the perspective of translation strategies and it attempts to explore how the translator is involved in the translation process, thus influencing the target translation texts under different social and historical circumstances. The purpose of this thesis is not to distinguish the advantages and disadvantages from the two translation strategies, but to explore how to use foreignization and domestication appropriately in literary translation. Finally, the conclusion is drawn: each of the two Chinese versions of The Scarlet Letter has merits and defects of its own, which should be assessed with its unique historical, economic, political, cultural and social backgrounds.  69699

Key words: The Scarlet Letter; foreignization; domestication                       

摘要霍桑的代表作《红字》以主题思想深邃、想像力丰富、写作手法独特而标志着美国长篇小说创作上的一个重大突破。它集中表现了霍桑的思想与艺术特色。自韩侍桁的首部中文译本问世以来,这十几年间仅汉译本已有34种之多。文学翻译中，对于归化和异化这两种翻译策略孰是孰非的争论也一直持续不断。本文从翻译策略的角度来对比研究1954年韩侍桁和1996年姚乃强翻译的《红字》译本的差异，并试图了解译者如何参与文学翻译，从而影响在不同社会和历史条件下译文的产生。本文的目的并非一定要在归化和异化这两种翻译策略中分辨出优劣，而是以翻译策略的争论为出发点，探讨出文学翻译中应如何恰当的使用异化和归化。最后得出结论：两个译本不能单单从翻译策略角度评出优劣，而应该考虑他们各自所处的历史、经济、政策、文化背景。

毕业论文关键字：《红字》；异化；归化

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

2.1 Previous studies on Chinese versions of the Scarlet Letter 2

2.2 Previous studies on domestication and foreignization 3

3. A Comparative Analysis of the Two Chinese Versions 4

3.1 The application of foreignization 5

3.2 The application of domestication 7

4. Conclusion 10

Works Cited 12

1. Introduction

     Hawthorne is one of the greatest writers in the United States in the nineteenth century. The Scarlet Letter is his romantic novel which is set in Boston where people were under the rule of Puritanism during the years 1642 to 1649. It tells the story that Hester Prynne still tries her best to create a new life of repentance and dignity although she conceives a daughter through an adulterous affair. Hawthorne not only mercilessly scourges the false evil and ugly behaviors of the mankind, but also celebrates the humanity and the true, good and beautiful behaviors of the mankind. It is the publication of The Scarlet Letter in 1850 that won Nathaniel Hawthorne built his reputation as a major American author. 文献综述