Abstract

The Romance of Three Kingdoms is one of the most famous novel in China which is written by Luo Guanzhong. It is recognized as the earliest full-length Chinese novel, which introduces the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu, and the complex political, military and diplomatic struggles during the Three Kingdom period of China. 

There are a lot of characters in this novel with different appellation. Appellations are words which are used to express the relationships and people’s status and play important roles in interpersonal interaction. The researcher of the present thesis chooses one hundred and eight appellations in The Romance of Three Kingdoms and classifies them into honorific appellation, laudatory appellation, modest appellation and abusive appellation. Besides, this research analyzes the translation of appellation in The Romance of Three Kingdoms from the perspective of domestication and foreignization.

She finds the English counterparts in the English version and comes to a conclusion that about a half of the appellations are translated with literal translation, which is influenced by foreignization. In other cases, the translator is guided by domestication and uses liberal translation. Foreignization prevails relatively in Robert’s translating of the one hundred and eight appellations in The Romance of Three Kingdoms. 

Key Words: Appellation   The Romance of Three Kingdoms     Domestication Foreignization  

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Chapter One Introduction-1

1.1 The Background of the Research-1

1.2 The Significance of the Research-1

1.3 The Research Question-2

1.4 The Structure of the Research-2

Chapter Two Literature Review-4

2.1 Previous Research-4

2.2 Domestication and Foreignization-5

Chapter Three Methodology-6

3.1 Data Collection-6

3.2 Data Analysis.-6

Chapter Four Result and Discussion-7

4.1 Appellation-7

4.1.1 Definition-7

4.1.2 Classification of Appellation-7

4.1.2.1 Honorific Appellation-8

4.1.2.2 Laudatory Appellation-9

4.1.2.3 Modest Appellation-10

4.1.2.4 Abusive Appellation-10

4.2 Translation of Appellation under the Direction of Foreignization-10

4.3 The Translation of Appellation under the Direction of Domestication.-12

Chapter Five Conclusion-16

5.1 Major Findings-16

5.2 Limitation and recommendations for future research-16

References-18