A Study on the Translation of “Red” Based on the Chinese-English Parallel Corpus of A Dream of Red Mansions

Chunzhen YAO, Lianlian LIU

Abstract


In “A Dream of Red Mansions”, an abundance of color words associated with “red” reflects the significance of the color in Chinese traditional culture. This study introduces a novel perspective by delving into the translational aspects of “red” color words through corpus translatology. Utilizing the existing Chinese-English parallel corpus of A Dream of Red Mansions, the paper conducts a quantitative analysis of the “red” words in the combined versions of Hawkes and Minford and Yang Xianyi and Danaidie. The analysis explores translation methods and strategies employed for “red” words in different contexts. The findings reveal that Hawkes primarily employs domestication and free translation, whereas Yang Xianyi leans towards foreignization and literal translation. At the lexical level, it becomes evident that varying cultural and linguistic disparities prompt translators to adapt and modify their strategies accordingly.

 


Keywords


A Dream of Red Mansions; Color words; Corpus; Translation

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/13256

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