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Research on the Translation of Culture-Loaded Words in the English Translation of "Red Sorghum" under the Alienation Strategy

Author(s)

Wang Yujie, Huang Wanwu

Affiliation(s)

School of Foreign Languages, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China

Abstract

This paper uses Lawrence Venuti’s alienation theory to analyze Howard Goldblatt’s translation strategies of culture-loaded words in Mo Yan’s Red Sorghum. On the lexical level, the research looks at how literal and word-for-word translation techniques are used as a system to keep cultural images and different ways of talking. By comparing texts about idioms, vulgarities, metaphors, and material culture terms, it can be seen that these kinds of alienation tactics work well to make “cultural fidelity” happen by making a purposeful distance between the source and target languages. Findings show that this method has both beauty and efficiency in conveying the special cultural environment of the original text and promoting the spread of Chinese literature around the world.

Keywords

Red Sorghum; Alienation; Literal translation; Cultural Fidelity

References

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