Abstract：Susan Bassnett, a representative of the cultural school of translation study, once points out that translation involves not only decoding and recoding of languages but the transference of culture. Thus, in dealing with cultural elements, how foreignization and domestication are adopted under different circumstances will affect the quality of the translated version. This thesis, taking Six Chapters of A Floating Life, a Chinese classic, as the object of study, tries to explore the translation strategies adopted by Lin Yutang in translating culture-loaded words. By analyzing typical examples, it can be concluded that adopting foreignization as a dominant method and domestication as a supplementary one instead of taking the two as a binary opposite can retain the uniqueness of Chinese traditional culture and meanwhile achieve expressiveness. In this way, the mission of spreading culture is fulfilled.

Key words：culture-loaded words; foreignization; domestication;  cultural translation theory ; Six Chapters of A Floating Life

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1Introduction-1

2Cultural Translation Theory -2

2.1  Cultural Turn in Translation Study -3

2.2  Susan Bassnett’s Cultural Translation Theory -4

3Culture-Loaded Words -5

3.1  Definition and Classification of Culture-Loaded Words -5

3.2  Culture-Loaded Words in Six Chapters of A Floating Life -6

3.2.1  Material Culture-Loaded Words -6

3.2.2  Religious Culture-Loaded Words-6

3.2.3  Ecological Culture-Loaded Words-7

3.2.4  Social Culture-Loaded Words-7

3.2.5  Linguistic Culture-Loaded Words-8

3.3  Difficulties of Translating Culture-Loaded Words in Six Chapters of A Floating Life-10

4Lin Yutang’s Translation Strategies of Culture-Loaded Words in Six Chapters of A Floating Life -11

4.1  Foreinization and Domestication -12

4.2  Lin Yutang’s Adoption of Foreinization as a Dominant Method -13

4.2.1  Transliteration.13

4.2.2  Literal Translation.15

4.2.3  Limited Universalization17

4.2.4  Annotation19

4.3 Lin Yutang’s Adoption of Domestication as a Supplementary Method-23

4.3.1  Free Translation.23

4.3.2  Cultural Substitution.24

4.3.3  Cultural Omission.26

5Conclusion  -28

References-30