TRANSLATING CULTURE-SPECIFIC REFERENCES:

A STUDY ON LU HSUN’S THE TRUE STORY OF AH Q

AND ITS ENGLISH TRANSLATION

by

Siu Mui YIM

A dissertation submitted to the

School of Humanities
of the University of Birmingham
in part fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of

Master of Arts
in
Translation Studies

This dissertation consists of approximately 13,000 words

Supervisor: Carmen Millan-Varela

Centre for English Language Studies

Department of English
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2T
United Kingdom

August 2001
 ABSTRACT

This research examines the translation of The True Story of Ah Q to see how the

translators deal with the translation problems caused by cultural difference. It

attempts to find out the strategies used by the translator to those culture-specific

references and the general approach of the translation. It also evaluates the

effectiveness of the translation and suggests the implication of the findings.

The finding concludes that like most of the translation practices, this translation is a

mixture of domestication and foreignisation and a mixture of literal and free

translation. It also points out the importance of the background of the translation

project and the concept of the “ideal reader” in the understanding of the translator’s

approach.
 CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1. The Nature of Cultural Difference 4

2.2. Literal Translation Vs Free Translation 6

2.3. Foreignisation and Domestication 8

2.4. Strategies for Culture-specific Reference 10

2.5. Supplementary Information 13

2.6. The Notion of Loss and Compensation 15

2.7. The Concept of the Translation 17

CHAPTER 3 ANALYSIS OF THE TEXTS 19

3.1. On the Author and His Works 19

3.2. On The True Story of Ah Q 22

3.3. Background of the Translation Project 25

3.4. Culture-specific References Involved 27

CHAPTER 4 DISCUSSION ON THE TRANSLATION 49

4.1. Strategies Used by the Translator 49

4.2. General Tendency of the Translation 57

4.3. Translation Loss and Compensation 61

4.4. Inconsistency of the Translation 65

4.5. Distortion of the Original 67

4.6. Implications of the Findings 71

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 73

REFERENCES 76