1. Introduction
1.1 Background information
Liao Zhai Zhi Yi, as one of the most influential Chinese classical literatures, is a collection of short stories written by Pu Songling in the Qing Dynasty. Pu is believed to create simple and interesting fantasies with the intention of revealing and criticizing the darkness in the society of China at that particular time. By now there have been about 17 English versions of this wonderful novel provided by both Sinologists and Chinese translators. Some of them enjoy a worldwide reputation, like the versions written by John Minford and Herbert A .Giles. They both translated the title of the book as Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, and the general content of each story was similar, but the two versions …show more content…
It is a wide discipline that includes written, verbal, and non-verbal communication. Exegesis focuses primarily upon texts. (Steiner, 2001) Steiner stated that language is variable over time, and any translation behavior should be based on decoding the source text. He established a “four ford motions” translation framework on the basis of hermeneutics theory, which claimed that the four motions, “Trust” “Aggression”, “Import” and “Compensation” were included in the process of translation. “Trust”, as the first move towards interpretation, requests a translator to recognize the meaning of the source text, acknowledge its significance, and confirm the feasibility of translation. However, it is unavoidable that the comprehension might be biased by cultural differences and the lack of language skills, so that the translator tends to bring his or her subjective initiative into the practice and aggressing into the coded cover of the content. “Import” means after aggression, the information will be decoded and transferred into the target language in accordance with the norms and conceptual context of the target culture, which is the purpose of aggressing. Eventually, the “compensation” will be made for restoring the balance between the TT and ST that might have been damaged in the process of decoding and recoding, and highlight the value of the original text (Cha & Tian, …show more content…
A research conducted by Li has provided a systematical overview of the analysis of representative translators in light of historical condition and the features of their translation work (Li, 2016). Similarly, a corpus-assisted diachronic study on translator style (Lu, 2014) investigated the translation styles and the factors that influence translation decisions by managing a quantitative analysis, which is a great reference for further studies. Also, some scholars like Liu have contributed to investigate the theoretical framework of Hermeneutics that can be guidance for researching the subjectivity of translators (Liu,
1.1 Background information
Liao Zhai Zhi Yi, as one of the most influential Chinese classical literatures, is a collection of short stories written by Pu Songling in the Qing Dynasty. Pu is believed to create simple and interesting fantasies with the intention of revealing and criticizing the darkness in the society of China at that particular time. By now there have been about 17 English versions of this wonderful novel provided by both Sinologists and Chinese translators. Some of them enjoy a worldwide reputation, like the versions written by John Minford and Herbert A .Giles. They both translated the title of the book as Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, and the general content of each story was similar, but the two versions …show more content…
It is a wide discipline that includes written, verbal, and non-verbal communication. Exegesis focuses primarily upon texts. (Steiner, 2001) Steiner stated that language is variable over time, and any translation behavior should be based on decoding the source text. He established a “four ford motions” translation framework on the basis of hermeneutics theory, which claimed that the four motions, “Trust” “Aggression”, “Import” and “Compensation” were included in the process of translation. “Trust”, as the first move towards interpretation, requests a translator to recognize the meaning of the source text, acknowledge its significance, and confirm the feasibility of translation. However, it is unavoidable that the comprehension might be biased by cultural differences and the lack of language skills, so that the translator tends to bring his or her subjective initiative into the practice and aggressing into the coded cover of the content. “Import” means after aggression, the information will be decoded and transferred into the target language in accordance with the norms and conceptual context of the target culture, which is the purpose of aggressing. Eventually, the “compensation” will be made for restoring the balance between the TT and ST that might have been damaged in the process of decoding and recoding, and highlight the value of the original text (Cha & Tian, …show more content…
A research conducted by Li has provided a systematical overview of the analysis of representative translators in light of historical condition and the features of their translation work (Li, 2016). Similarly, a corpus-assisted diachronic study on translator style (Lu, 2014) investigated the translation styles and the factors that influence translation decisions by managing a quantitative analysis, which is a great reference for further studies. Also, some scholars like Liu have contributed to investigate the theoretical framework of Hermeneutics that can be guidance for researching the subjectivity of translators (Liu,