Abstract

The process of translation is often a reappearance of the source text. In many cases, the target text needs to be equivalent to the original text, no matter in literal or liberal meaning. In Chinese-English translation, especially translating from classical Chinese into English, the source text is often undertranslated or overtranslated, due to differences in sentence structure and cultural background between the two languages, or a translator’s cultural background or personal experience. Both undertranslation and overtranslation hinder the accurate expression of meaning in the source text, leading to readers' misinterpretation of the original version. Undertranslation and overtranslation have long been translation theorists’ concern.

“An Account of Yueyang Tower” is a representative of traditional Chinese literature. Its significance in Chinese culture has brought wide attention to its translation. This thesis, from the perspective of undertranslation and overtranslation, performs a research on “An Account of Yueyang Tower” and its English versions, including Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang’s, Xie Baikui’s, Luo Jingguo’s and so on. The thesis discusses the causes for and solutions to undertranslation and overtranslation in these versions.

This thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter is an introduction. The second chapter is a literature review, including undertranslation and overtranslation theories, and their causes and solutions. The third chapter is an overview of the source text – “An Account of Yueyang Tower”, its translated versions and the translators. The fourth chapter covers analysis of undertranslation and overtranslation in the English versions of “An Account of Yueyang Tower”, as well as the causes and solutions. The fifth chapter makes a conclusion of the whole thesis in an attempt to make a contribution to further study.

Key words: undertranslation, overtranslation, An Account of Yueyang Tower, causes, solutions