《北京折叠》中国文化的翻译研究_英语论文

A Study on the Translation of Chinese Culture in Folding Beijing

摘要

郝景芳的短篇科幻小说《北京折叠》，由美国华人翻译家刘宇昆翻译成英文版本，于2015年在美国出版，并于2016年8月获得第74届雨果奖的最佳中短篇小说奖。本文基于《北京折叠》的中英文版，着重研究译者在英译本中如何翻译中国文化。本文具体从“名称”，“俗语”，“成语”三方面入手，研究汉语在文学作品中的文化性及独特性如何在译文中体现出来。研究发现，在翻译原文的中国文化方面，译者用词大多趋于简洁明了，运用的翻译手法多样化，灵活性强。在忠于原著的前提下，表达更加倾向于英语读者。虽然在个别用词还原中国文化意境方面稍有欠缺，但其英译版不失为一部佳作。

关键词：《北京折叠》，刘宇昆，翻译，中国文化                           

Abstract

The short science fiction Folding Beijing written by Hao Jingfang, was translated into English by a famous American Chinese translator, Ken Liu. In 2015, the English version was published in America. In August 2016, Folding Beijing won the Best Novelette in the 74th Hugo Award. Based on the original and English version of Folding Beijing, this thesis focuses on how translator translates the Chinese culture. Specifically, this thesis researches how the translation can reflect the cultural features and the peculiarity about Chinese language in literature from three aspects: “the name”, “slangs” and “idioms”. It is found that in the term of the translation about Chinese culture, Ken Liu tends to use simple and concise expressions, flexibly utilizes various translation methods. According to original expressions, the translator is inclined to English readers. Although some expressions fail to represent the artistic conception of original words, the English version is an excellent work.

Keywords: Folding B eijing, Ken Liu, Translation, Chinese culture

Contents

摘要 I

Abstract II

Acknowledgements III

Chapter One: Introduction - 1 -

1.1 Background and Significance - 1 -

1.2 Literature review - 2 -

1.3 Overall Structure - 5 -

Chapter Two: Translation of Chinese Culture - 7 -

2.1 Translation of Names - 7 -

2.1.1 Names of People - 7 -

2.1.2 Names of Dishes - 8 -

2.2 Translation of Slangs - 8 -

2.3 Translation of Idioms - 10 -

Chapter Three: Conclusion - 13 -

3.1 Major Findings - 13 -

3.2 Limitations - 13 -

References - 14 -