Abstract

With the increasingly frequent international cultural exchanges, translation is not only the conversion between the two languages, but also the exchange of cultures. Domestication and foreignization, as the two translation strategies, have become an unavoidable issue in cross-cultural translation. 

This paper introduces the proposal and development of domestication and foreignization. Leading a comparative analysis of two Chinese versions on The Great Gatsby, the masterpiece of Fitzgerald, and they are Yao Naiqiang and Wu Ningkun’s Chinese translations. In this paper, the strategies of domestication and Foreignization in the two versions are discussed in order to explore the influence of the background of the times and the translator's experience on the choice of translation strategies. 

  Through the comparative study, the author finds that Yao Naiqiang and Wu Ningkun lived in different times, and they had different life and learning experiences. The former mainly adopts domestication strategy in the translation, and the cultural factors in English are presented in accordance with the Chinese way of thinking. The latter mainly adopts foreignization strategy in the translation, which can present the original text to the readers and make the readers know more about the western culture.

  On the basis of comparative analysis, the paper considers that different cultural and social backgrounds of the times make the reader's reading demand different, which makes the translators adopt different translation strategies. The translator's own life and learning experience will also influence the choice of translation strategies. Domestication and foreignization as the two translation strategies have no clear boundaries, and we can not arbitrarily comment on which one is better.

Key words: Domestication; Foreignization; Translation strategy; The Great Gatsby

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-5

2. Literature Review-8

2.1 An Introduction to Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby-8

2.2 The Research on the Chinese Versions of The Great Gatsby-10

3. Domestication and Foreignization-11

3.1 Introduction of Domestication and Foreignization-.11

3.2 Reflections of Domestication and Foreignization-12

4. The Comparative Study of Two Chinese Versions of The Great Gatsby-14

4.1 About Two Translators: Yao Naiqiang and Wu Ningkun-14

4.1.1 About Yao Naiqiang’s Life Experience-14

 4.1.2 About Wu Ningkun’s Life Experience-15

4.2 Some Typical Samples in Two Versions-.16

4.2.1 The Lexical Aspect-.16

4.2.2 The Syntactic Aspect-.18

4.2.3 The Discourse Aspect-.20

5. Conclusion-.23

Bibliography-.24

Acknowledgments-.26