The Influence of Cultural Differences on the Translation of A Dream of Red Mansions.doc

The Influence of Cultural Differences on the Translation of A Dream of Red Mansions Abstract: It can be divided into two approaches to culture involved in translation: SL culture-oriented and Tl culture-oriented. This kind of classification is based on the analysis of translation of figurative use of language in the two English versions ( Xianyi Yang Gladys Yang and David Hawkes) of the Chinese classical novel A Dream of Red Mansion. The analysis leads to the conclusion that both methods can be justified in their own right if we take into consideration the differences in the objective of translation, the form of the texts, the purpose of the author and the readers. Key words: cultural shock; influence; translation of A Dream of Red Mansions 摘要： 在翻译中，我们一般将对文化因素的处理方式分为两种情况：包括主要以源语文化委归宿的“异化”和主要以目的语文化为归宿的“归化”。在此篇文章中，通过比较《红楼梦》两种英译本（杨宪益和霍克斯）在文化词语翻译上的处理，得出这样的结论：针对不同的翻译目的、文本类型、作者意图以及读者对象。“异化”和“归化”两种方法都能在目标语文化中完成自己的任务，所以都验证了各自存在的价值。 关键词：归化；异化；文化差异；《红楼梦》翻译 Ⅰ. Introduction It involves the transformation of two different culture in two different languages, which brings problems of communication between language and culture naturally. Language and culture react on one another. Since 1830, in over one hundred years, many translators have translated some parts or the whole text of A Dream of Red Mansions. Among all the cover-to-cover translations, the couple of Yang’s and David Hawkes’ are two of the most classical ones, which are regarded as successful translations in translation field admittedly. Gentzler Edwin once said, the social culture conditions that the translator accepts refect the translated text in a way. A Dream of Red Mansions is one of Chinese literary classics, also is one of culture classics, which includes every aspect of Chinese culture, such as poetry and Qu Fu, lyre-playing, chess, calligraphy and painting, medicine, food and drink, dream omen, bureaucratic establishment, etiquette, geographic na