Abstract

Venuti Lawrence put forward the concept: Domestication and Foreignization in cultural translation. Foreignization refers to that the translation reflects the cultural connotation of the source language because of the literal translation according to the source text while domestication means that the translator completes the understanding on the source language through translation owing to the loss of source language culture. On the basis of comparing two English versions in idioms, names and cuisines, the paper supports the conclusion that Yang adopted more foreignization and Hawks utilized more domestication in their respective translation works. However, they all used the other method in their own translation, which pushes to discuss the factors influencing the translators’ adopting of translation methods: target reader and translators’ own background. At last, this paper concludes that domestication and foreignization are generally not applied alone but combined together to achieve a better translation.

Key words: Honglou Meng; domestication; foreignization; cultural transmission

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1 Introduction.1

2 General Narrations of Domestication and Foreignization2

  2.1 The Origin of Domestication and Foreignization2

  2.2 The Definition of Domestication and Foreignization3

  2.3 The Function of Domestication and Foreignization4

3 Comparative Study on Yang’s and Hawks’ Versions5

  3.1 Translation of Idioms.5

  3.2 Translation of Names.7

  3.3 Translation of Cuisines8

4 Contributing Factors of Domestication and Foreignization ..10

  4.1 Target Readers.11

  4.2 Cultural Background of Translator..11

5 Conclusions.12

References..13