A Study on Three dimensional English Translation Transformation and Overseas Communication of Confucian Culture in A Dream of Red Mansions from the Perspective of Eco translatology

Abstract

Taking the three dimensional transformation theory of Eco translatology as its theoretical framework, this study focuses on A Dream of Red Mansions translated by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang, and conducts an in depth exploration of translation strategies adopted for core Confucian cultural elements (such as filial piety, ritual system, family ethics and educational concepts) as well as its overseas dissemination effects. By comparing the adaptive selection and transformation of the source text and its English version from the linguistic, cultural and communicative dimensions, this paper investigates the role played by this translated version in the overseas dissemination of Chinese culture. The study reveals that the Yangs’ translation realizes the systematic transplantation of Confucian culture through three dimensional transformations. Nevertheless, its dissemination effect is constrained by cognitive barriers within the target language cultural ecology, which offers important implications for the practice of “in depth cultural facsimile” in the English translation of Chinese classics.