M??A?Study?on?the?English?Translation?of?The??
Three-Body?Problem?from?the?Perspective??
of?Reception?Theory??
by??
Wu?Ting??
Under?the?Supervision?of??
Professor?Hu?Mu??
Submitted?in?Partial?Fulfillment?of?the?Requirements??
For?the?Degree?of?Master?of?Arts??
School?of?Foreign?Languages?and?Cultures??
Nanjing?Normal?University??
May?2017??学位论文独创性声明??
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日
?期:災n坪日日?期:沐n洋*3^??摘要??
《三体》是首部获得雨果奖的中国科幻作品,同时也是一部有中国特色的科幻小??
说,小说借助于文化大革命的背景,融合了中国上下五千年的历史文化。??
本文借助接受理论中的期待视野和视域融合等概念,旨在对译者所采取的翻译策??
略进行研究。译者如何关注目标读者,满足读者的期待视野并促成视域融合,以上问??
题构成本文翻译研宄的主要内容。具体的研宄对象主要包括:文化负载词的翻译、科??
幻场景描写的翻译以及人物描写的翻译。对上述内容的英译情况进行研宄的过程中,??
本文结合了大量英译实例,研宄了译者的翻译策略,并分析了这些策略如何体现接受??
理论。此外,本文通过分析目标读者反映探讨了《三体》英文版在西方的接受状况。??
研宄发现,译者在处理以上三个方面的内容时,灵活运用了多种翻译策略来关注??
目标读者的期待视野,促成视域融合。例如,译者通过采取直译和直译与意译相结合??
的策略,一方面保留了源语文本的文化特色,另一方面关照了目标读者的接受能力。??
必要情况下,译者增添了脚注来满足目标读者对中国文化的期待。译者还采取了增译??
和减译的策略来关照目标读者的文化背景和阅读习惯。对于源语文本中的新造词,译??
者创造出了相应的术语,这些术语不仅忠实地传递了原文语义,而且能帮助读者唤起??
已有视野理解目标文本。因此,该小说在西方世界广受好评。特别是与其他代表性的??
英译中国文学作品相比,《三体》英译本在西方读者中有着极高的接受度。??
总之,本文旨在引起学者对中国科幻小说英译的关注,为科幻小说的英译提供新??
的视角,为今后的相关研宄提供一定参考。??
关键词:《三体》;科幻小说;翻译策略;接受理论??
i??Abstract??
The?Three-Body?Problem?is?the?first?Chinese?science?fiction?to?receive?Hugo?Award,??
and?it?is?also?a?work?full?of?Chinese?features.?It?sets?the?Cultural?Revolution?as?the??
background,?containing?a?Chinese?history?of?over?5,000?years.??
Based?on?concepts?including?horizon?of?expectation?and?fusion?of?horizons?from??
reception?theory,?this?thesis?attempts?to?analyze?translation?strategies?adopted?by?the??
translator.?The?main?contents?of?the?translation?study?in?this?paper?include?how?the??
translator?shows?concern?for?target?readers,?satisfies?readers5?horizon?of?expectations?and??
helps?readers?to?achieve?fusion?of?horizons.?The?specific?studying?subjects?consist?of??
translation?of?culture-loaded?words,?science?related?information?and?description?of??
characters.?When?researching?on?the?English?translation?of?above?subjects,?this?paper??
analyzes?plenty?of?examples?from?The?Three-Body?Problem.?It?not?only?discusses?the??
translating?strategies?but?also?analyzes?how?they?embody?reception?theory.?In?addition,?the??
thesis?studies?the?reception?status?of?the?English?version?in?the?western?world?by?analyzing??
feedback?from?target?readers.??
After?analyzing?the?translation?of?the?three?aspects?above,?the?writer?of?this?thesis??
draws?the?conclusion?that?the?translator?has?flexibly?adopted?various?strategies?to?show??
concern?for?target?readers1?horizon?of?expectations?and?to?facilitate?fusion?of?horizons.?For??
example,?the?translator?uses?strategies?of?literal?translation?and?literal?translation?combined??
with?free?translation,?which?not?only?retains?the?distinctive?Chinese?culture?of?the?source??
text,?but?also?shows?that?the?translator?has?taken?into?account?the?acceptance?ability?of??
target?readers.?When?necessary,?the?translator?adds?footnotes?to?meet?target?readers5??
expectations?to?Chinese?culture.?Moreover,?the?translator?adopts?strategies?of?addition?and??
omission?when?considering?the?target?readers1?cultural?background?and?reading?habits.?As??
for?the?coined?terms?in?the?source?text,?the?translator?creates?words?which?convey?meanings??
faithfully?and?help?readers?to?recall?existing?horizons?to?understand?the?target?text.??
Therefore,?the?English?version?receives?much?praise?from?western?readers.?When?compared??
with?works?by?other?representative?Chinese?writers,?the?English?version?of?The?Three-Body??
Problem?enjoys?a?greater?extent?of?reception?among?western?readers.??
In?a?word,?this?paper?aims?at?drawing?scholars1?attention?to?the?English?translation?of??Chinese?science?fictions,?offering?a?new?perspective?for?the?translation?as?well?as?serving?as??
a?reference?to?future?related?researches.??
Key?words:?The?Three-Body?Problem^?science?fiction;?translation?strategies;?reception??
theory??
iii??Contents??
觀?i??
Abstract?ii??
Chapter?1?Introduction
??
?1??
1.1?Research?Background
??
??
?1??
1.2?Research?Objectives?and?Significance
??
?2??
1.3?Research?Questions?and?Metiiodology
?3??
1.4?Structure?of?the?Thesis
??
?4??
Chapter?2?Literature?Review
?5??
2.1?Reception?Theory?in?the?Field?of?Translation?Abroad
?5??
2.2?Reception?Theory?in?the?Field?of?Translation?at?Home
?6??
2.3?Translation?of?Chinese?Science?Fiction
??"?■7??
2.4?Studies?on?the?English?Translation?of?The?Three-Body?Problem?at?Home?and??
Abroad?8??
Chapter?3?Theoretical?Framework ̄Reception?Theory
?11??
3.1?Horizon?of?Expectations
??
?13??
3.2?Fusion?of?Horizons
??
?14??
Chapter?4?A?Case?Study?on?the?English?Translation?of?The?Three ̄Body?Problem
?16??
4.1?Liu?Cixin?and?The?Three-Body?Problem
?16??
4.2?Ken?Liu?and?the?English?Translation?of?The?Three-Body?Problem
?18??
4.3?Translation?Strategies?in?The?Three-Body?Problem
?"...
?19??
4.3.1?Translation?of?Culture-loaded?Words
?20??
4.3.2?Translation?of?Science?Related?Information
?27??
4.3.3?Translation?of?Description?of?Characters
?31??
Chapter?5?Feedback?to?the?English?Version?of?The?Three-Body?Problem?in?the?West
?36??
5.1?Expectations?to?the?English?Version?of?The?Three-Body?Problem
?36??
5.2?Reception?of?the?English?Version?of?The?Three-Body?Problem
?37??
5.3?Positive?Comments
??
??
?39??
5.4?Criticism
??
?41??
Chapter?6?Conclusion
?43??
iv??6.1?Findings
??
?43??
6.2?Values?and?Limitations
?45??
6.3?Suggestions?for?Future?Studies
?45??
References?47??
Acknowledgements
??
?51??
V??Chapter?1?Introduction??
1.1?Research?Background??
The?series?of?The?Three-Body?Problem?are?also?known?as?Remembrance?of?Earth's??
Past?Trilogy,?which?consists?of?The?Three-Body?Problem,?The?Dark?Forest?and?Death's??
End.?This?thesis?mainly?focuses?on?the?first?volume,?namely?The?Three-Body?Problem,?to??
which?all?of?the?following?paragraphs?refer.??
The?Three-Body?Problem,?first?published?in?2006,?is?a?great?work?by?Liu?Cixin.?In?the??
same?year,?it?won?Chinese?Science?Fiction?Galaxy?Award,?which?is?the?sole?one?for?this??
genre?of?literature?in?China.?Thus,?Liu^?receiving?the?award?suggests?that?he?has?achieved??
the?highest?level?of?science?fiction?writing?in?China.?However,?not?until?2015?when?The??
Three-Body?Problem?translated?by?Ken?Liu?won?the?Hugo?Award?for?Best?Novel?and?was??
nominated?for?the?Nebula?Award?did?readers?at?home?and?abroad?begin?paying?much??
attention?to?Chinese?science?fiction.?In?fact,?The?Three-Body?Problem?is?the?first?translated??
work?to?receive?the?honor.??
The?Hugo?Awards?are?a?set?of?awards,?overseen?and?organized?by?the?World?Science??
Fiction?Society?to?commemorate?one?of?the?greatest?science?fiction?writers,?Hugo??
Gemsback,?and?they?are?given?annually?to?the?best?science?fictions?or?fantasy?works?in?the??
preceding?year.?Together?with?the?Nebula?Award,?they?are?widely?acknowledged?as?the??
highest?honors?bestowed?on?science?fiction?and?fantasy?writing.??
As?the?first?Asian?to?win?this?prestigious?science?fiction?award,?Liu?on?his?own?raised??
the?status?of?Chinese?science?fiction?to?world-class?level.?It?is?a?remarkable?feat?and?serves??
as?a?milestone?in?the?development?of?Chinese?science?fiction.?As?the?news?caused??
tremendous?response?in?Chinese?science?fiction?community,?it?at?the?same?time?reflects?the??
embarrassing?position?of?science?fiction?in?China.?Mainly?there?are?two?factors?contributing??
to?its?being?neglected.??
First,?science?fiction?did?not?exist?in?China?until?1900,?when?Chinese?scholars?started??
to?translate?western?science?fiction?stories?and?novels,?which?means?that?science?fiction?in??
China?has?so?far?existed?for?just?over?100?years.?On?the?contrary,?in?the?western?world??
science?fiction?has?had?a?history?of?about?200?years,?since?Mary?Shelley?in?1818?published??
Frankenstein^?the?first?novel?of?the?literary?style.?Thus,?its?development?in?China?lags??
l??behind?its?western?counterpart.?Secondly,?science?fiction?has?been?peripheral?for?long?in??
China.?With?few?prominent?writers?and?works,?it?has?not?been?accepted?by?the?mainstream??
literature,?although?it?has?been?appreciated?by?a?large?number?of?young?readers.?But?in?the??
western?world,?eminent?writers,?great?novels,?theoretical?books?and?relevant?papers?sprang??
up?in?every?period?of?the?development.?For?example,?Jules?Gabriel?Veme?as?a?well-known??
writer?has?been?named?as?the?Father?of?Science?Fiction,?and?he?is?famous?for?the?novels??
Twenty?Thousand?Leagues?Under?the?Sea,?A?Journey?to?the?Center?of?the?Earth,?and??
Around?the?World?in?Eighty?Days?(?Guo,?1998:?168).?Moreover,?movies?like?the?series?of??
Star?Trek?adapted?from?books?have?been?popular?for?about?50?years.?Together?with?the??
former?cause,?this?literature?genre?has?been?ignored?in?China.??
General?type?as?it?is,?science?fiction?plays?a?vital?role?in?evoking?creativity?and??
imagination?among?the?masses,?and?kindling?readers9?interest?in?science.?So?it?deserves??
being?noticed.?Chen-Ning?Franklin?Yang?said?that?66there?is?no?scientist?who?learns??
scientific?knowledge?through?reading?science?fictions,?but?reading?science?fiction?can?help??
to?open?up?thinking.?Fantasies?in?scientific?novels?can?cultivate?creativity?and?inspire??
innovation,?which?is?the?main?value?of?science?fiction55?(Guo,?2004:?131).?Fortunately,?as??
Liu?Cixin?won?the?Hugo?Award,?science?fiction?has?received?unprecedented?attention?in??
China.??
1.2?Research?Objectives?and?Significance??
The?study?on?tiie?translation?of?The?Three-Body?Problem?will?be?significant?mainly?in??
three?respects.??
First?of?all,?The?Three?Bo<fy?Problem?represents?the?most?significant?achievements??
Chinese?science?fiction?has?made.?Its?receiving?Hugo?Award?and?the?great?popularity?in?the??
English-speaking?countries?prove?that?the?translation?is?worth?study.?However,?few??
researches?have?been?done?on?the?work?as?it?has?not?been?paid?much?attention?to?until?the??
year?of?2015?when?the?English?version?won?the?Hugo?Award.?Thus,?this?thesis?will?help?to??
enrich?relevant?studies?on?the?translation?of?The?Three-Body?Problem.??
Secondly,?the?study?can?be?helpful?in?the?globalization?of?Chinese?literature?because?it??
will?oflFer?some?experience?for?the?successful?translation?of?other?Chinese?science?fictions.??
Chinese?literature?works?are?much?less?accepted?in?the?west?than?their?counterparts?in??
2??China.?Although?there?are?many?books?of?well-known?Chinese?writers?translated?into?other??
languages,?most?of?them?fail?to?catch?eyes?of?foreign?readers.?In?one?important?respect,?the??
awkward?position?of?Chinese?literature?on?the?global?stage?results?from?the?quality?of?the??
books?themselves.?Apart?from?this,?translation?holds?the?key?to?the?popularity?in?the??
western?world.?As?for?The?Three-Body?Problem^?its?successful?reception?in?the??
English-speaking?world?proves?its?high-quality?translation.?So?when?translating?Chinese??
works?into?English?and?making?them?accepted?by?foreign?readers,?translators?can?learn??
from?the?case?of?The?Three-Body?Problem.??
Thirdly,?this?thesis?analyses?The?Three-Body?Problem?from?the?perspective?of??
reception?theory,?and?it?is?a?brand?new?point?of?view?regarding?the?study?of?the?work.?This??
thesis?will?verify?the?feasibility?of?applying?reception?theory?to?translating?literature?works.??
Reception?theory?was?put?forward?in?the?1960s.?After?half?a?century,?it?is?still?active.?This??
thesis?will?look?at?how?the?translator?shows?his?consideration?for?target?readers5?horizon?of??
expectations?and?how?the?fusion?of?horizons?between?the?translator?and?target?readers?is??
achieved.?Then?it?is?hoped?that?this?thesis?will?contribute?a?little?bit?to?the?development?of??
reception?theory.??
To?draw?a?conclusion,?this?thesis?aims?at?finding?the?actual?reception?status?of?the??
work?among?target?readers?and?at?the?same?time?attempts?to?enrich?the?former?researches?to??
a?certain?extent.?Additionally,?it?hopes?that?much?attention?can?be?paid?to?the?translation?of??
Chinese?science?fiction.??
1.3?Research?Questions?and?Methodology??
This?thesis?mainly?focuses?on?the?questions?below:??
1.?What?strategies?does?the?translator?use?when?dealing?with?the?translation?of??
culture-loaded?words,?science?related?information?and?description?of?characters???
2.?How?do?the?strategies?the?translator?adopts?embody?reception?theory???
3.?To?what?extent?do?the?target?readers?accept?the?English?version?of?The?Three-Body??
Problem!??
As?for?the?research?methodology,?the?author?of?this?thesis?primarily?adopts?a??
descriptive?method?under?the?guidance?of?reception?theory.?The?author?first?reads?the??
source?and?the?target?text?carefully?to?select?some?aspects?characteristic?of?The?Three ̄Body??
3??Problem,?like?the?science?part,?as?the?contents?of?analysis?and?conduct?a?case?study?after??
analyzing?typical?examples.?Also,?the?writer?uses?a?quantitative?approach?to?compare?the??
reception?status?of?works?by?representative?Chinese?writers?in?the?west?For?example,?the??
writer?makes?a?table?to?show?that?The?Three-Body?Problem?attracts?more?attention?than??
other?most?well-known?Chinese?novels?in?the?west.??
1.4?Structure?of?the?Thesis??
This?thesis?mainly?consists?of?six?chapters:?Chapter?ls?Introduction;?Chapter?2,??
Literature?Review;?Chapter?3,?Theoretical?Framework;?Chapter?4,?A?Case?Study?on?the??
Translation?of?The?Three-Body?Problem;?Chapter?5,?Feedback?to?The?Three-Body?Problem??
in?the?English-speaking?World?and?Chapter?6,?Conclusion.??
In?the?first?chapter,?this?thesis?will?introduce?the?research?background,?research??
significance?and?layout?of?the?whole?paper.?Chapter?2?reviews?the?application?of?reception??
theory?to?translation?both?at?home?and?abroad.?Also,?this?chapter?concludes?the?translation??
of?science?fiction?in?China?as?well?as?domestic?and?overseas?studies?on?The?Three-Body??
Problem.?Chapter?3?gives?a?brief?introduction?to?the?main?concepts?of?reception?theory,?and??
it?discusses?translator^?consideration?for?target?readers.?In?chapter?4,?The?Three-Bo^??
Problem?is?analyzed?as?a?ease.?The?detailed?discussion?is?conducted?in?terms?of?the??
translation?of?culture-loaded?word,?science?related?information?and?description?of??
characters.?Chapter?5?presents?the?feedback?including?praise?and?criticism?to?The??
Three-Body?Problem?in?the?western?world.?And?the?last?chapter?is?a?conclusion?deduced??
from?the?study.??
4??Chapter?2?Literature?Review??
Different?from?previous?literary?theories?that?stress?on?author?and?text,?reception??
theory?as?a?kind?of?reader?response?literary?theory?highlights?reader’s?interpretation?and??
reception?of?literary?texts.?It?offers?a?new?research?perspective?for?scholars?in?literature.??
Also,?critics?see?the?value?of?applying?the?theory?to?translation?studies.??
2.1?Reception?Theory?in?the?Field?of?Translation?Abroad??
Soon?after?the?birth?of?reception?theory?in?1967,?it?was?put?into?the?field?of?translation.??
In?the?1960s,?Eugene?Nida?(1964:?159)?discussed?the?principle?of?equivalent?effect?in??
Toward?a?Science?of?Translating,?in?which?he?argued?that?the?relationship?between?receptor??
and?message?should?be?substantially?the?same?as?that?which?existed?between?the?original??
receptor?and?message.?Therefore,?the?message?should?be?adjusted?to?meet?the?receptor^??
cultural?expectations?and?linguistic?requests.??
In?1975,?George?Steiner?(1975)?published?After?Babel:?Aspects?of?Language?and??
Translation,?in?which?Steiner?used?one?chapter,?hermeneutic?motion,?to?illustrate?the??
process?of?translation.?Similar?to?reception?theory,?Steiner's?ideas?are?based?on??
hermeneutics.?According?to?Steiner,?the?process?of?translation?includes?four?steps,?namely,??
initial?trust,?aggression,?incorporation?and?compensation.??
In?1975,?Jonathan?Culler?(2002)?published?Structural?Poetics:?Structuralism,??
Linguistics?and?the?Study?of?Literature.?He?combined?structuralism?with?reception??
aesthetics.?Culler?tried?to?turn?the?focus?from?text?to?reader,?and?he?argued?that?the??
interpretation?of?a?literary?text?was?learned?through?reader5s?accumulative?experience?with??
a?specific?form.??
In?1981,?m?Approaches?to?Translation,?Peter?Newmark?(1988)?discussed?interpretative??
translation.?Like?Nida,?Newmark?also?concerned?the?importance?of?the?target?reader?and?the??
process?of?translation.??
In?1989,?Interpretatio:?Language?and?Translation?from?Cicero?to?Tytler?was?published??
by?Frederick?Rener?(1989)?who?discussed?and?analyzed?the?western?translation?theories??
from?the?point?of?hermeneutics.??
Reception?theory?attempts?to?focus?on?readers?instead?of?texts,?which?sparks??
researchers?in?the?field?of?translation?theory?greatly.?From?the?introduction?above,?it?can?be??
5??i?'?concluded?that?the?translation?scholars?attempt?to?study?translatiqir?in?terms?of??
hermeneutics?and?show?their?consideration?for?receptors?of?texts.??
2.2?Reception?Theory?in?the?Field?of?Translation?at?Home??
More?than?a?decade?after?its?emergence,?reception?theory?was?introduced?to?China.?In??
1987,?a?thesis?by?Yang?Wuneng?(1987)?first?applied?reception?Iheory?to?translation.?In?the??
thesis,?Yang?argues?that?readers5?pre-concept?holds?the?key?to?readers,?interpretation,??
reception?and?recreation?of?works.?So?translators?should?shoulder?the?responsibility?to??
improve?readers5?pre-understanding.?Since?Yang?published?the?thesis,?there?have?been?over??
20?papers?researching?the?relationship?between?reception?theory?and?translation.?The??
studies?can?be?classified?into?three?types?in?general.??
1)?The?rationalization?and?limitation?of?applying?reception?theory?to?translation.?Wu??
Chizhe?(1989:?46)?makes?it?clear?that?reception?theory?is?helpful?in?our?getting?rid?of?social??
reflection?and?exploring?new?perspective?on?literature?translation.?Lv?Jun?(1998:?34)?points??
out?the?paradox?of?the?theory?of?equivalent?which?has?its?base?on?the?reception?theory?in??
translation?studies.?Since?reception?theory?overemphasizes?the?readers?and?treats?them?as??
the?judge?of?literature?works,?the?subjectivity?of?the?works?themselves?is?ignored.??
2)?Essence?of?translation?from?the?view?of?reception?theory.?Ma?Xiao?(2000)??
researches?on?literature?translation?from?the?perspective?of?reception?theory,?analyzing??
receptors5?influence?on?and?role?in?translation?practice?and?discussing?the?reception?of??
language?and?culture?in?translation.?Hu?Kaibao?and?Hu?Shirong?(2006:?11)?argue?that?with??
the?translator?as?a?special?reader,the?translation?concerns?the?reception?of?texts,and?tihus??
the?reception?theory?which?takes?reception?of?the?text?as?its?research?object?is?necessarily??
relevant?to?translation?studies.??
3)?Application?of?reception?theory?to?translation.?Mu?Lei?(1990)?introduces?main??
concepts?of?reception?theory?including?reader?5s?role?and?horizons?of?expectations,?and?Mu??
proves?the?practicability?of?applying?the?theory?to?Chinese-English?idiom?translation.??
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