ABSTRACT

A Dream of Red Mansions is one of four Chinese great classical novels, the status of which is beyond comparison in the history of ancient Chinese literature. Moreover, it has enjoyed an international reputation since last century. As a great number of researches conducted on the English translated version of HLM are from other perspectives such as the translator’s subjectivity, this study aims at carrying out a research on this topic from a new perspective. In that way, reception aesthetics is introduced to this study. The lantern riddles in HLM embodied with Chinese culture have great impact on shaping the personality of characters and developing the plots. How to adopt the appropriate translating strategies in order to convey the correct meaning of lantern riddles in HLM is of great value to facilitate foreign readers to appreciate the charm of Chinese culture. This thesis, on the basis of a comparative study of lantern riddles in two translated versions, applies reception aesthetics theory to the study of literary translation. It concludes that during the process of translation translators ought to attach much importance to the two fusions of horizon for the sake of enabling target language readers to enjoy the literary works without barrier of cultural background and linguistic knowledge.

Key words: translations of lantern riddles; HLM; reception aesthetics; fusion of horizon

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION . 1

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 3

2.1 Application of RA in Translation Home and Abroad.3

2.2 An Overview of Previous Studies on HLM Translation.4

  2.2.1 Previous studies on HLM translation4

  2.2.2 Previous studies on lantern riddle translation in HLM.4

CHAPTER THREE LANTERN RIDDLES IN HLM.6

 3.1 An Overview of Riddles and Lantern Riddles.6

 3.2 Lantern Riddles in HLM7

3.2.1 Characteristics of lantern riddles in HLM.8

3.2.2 Functions of lantern riddles in HLM.8

CHAPTER FOUR  AN OVERVIEW OF RECEPTION AESTHETICS11

 4.1 A Brief Introduction to Reception Aesthetics 11

 4.2 Main Points of Reception Aesthetics12

4.2.1 Hans Robert Jauss: horizon of expectation12

4.2.2 Wolfgang Iser: the study about uncertainty and blank of text.13

 4.3 Characteristics of Reception Aesthetics .14

CHAPTER FIVE A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TWO TRANSLATED VERSIONS OF LANTERN RIDDLES IN HLM 17

 5.1 Translators’ Fusion of Horizon with the Source Text18

 5.1.1 Hawkes’ fusion of horizon with the source text.19

5.1.2 Yang & Dai’s fusion of horizon with the source text20  

5.2 Reproduction of the Characteristics of Lantern Riddles in the Second Fusion of Horizon.21

  5.2.1 Reproduction of beauty in sound22

  5.2.1 Reproduction of beauty in form23

  5.2.1 Reproduction of beauty in meaning25

CHAPTER SIX CONCLUSION27

REFERENCES30