The Application of Domestication and Foreignization in Lin Yutang’s English Version of Six Chapters of a Floating Life

Abstract：As a great translator，Lin Yutang used domestication and foreignization to make Six Chapters of a Floating Life worldwide.This article will analyze how he used this two methods to do the translation.

Key words：domestication；foreignization

As a great translator，Lin Yutang was very careful to use domestication and foreignization to make Six Chapters of a Floating Life easy for foreigners to understand.Now，lets see how he applied them in actual use.

1 On linguistic level

we all know that Chinese focuses more on meaning than form.Thus，many connectives are eliminated.However，English just goes the other way around.It must comply with the structure of the subject-verb.Here is an example：

正在熱鬧哄哄的時節(jié)，只見那后臺里，又出來一位姑娘，年紀十八九歲，裝束與前一個毫無分別，瓜子臉兒，白凈面皮，相貌不過中人以上之姿，只覺得秀而不媚，清而不寒。

Amidst the feverish bustling，there appeared on the stage a girl about eighteen or nineteen years old，dressed up just like the former.Her face was shaped like melon-seed.Her beauty was about average woman--charming but not coquettish，and a clarity of complexion but not coldness.（qtd.in Wang 5）

There are not any verbs but a sequence of nouns in“瓜子臉兒，白凈面皮”.However，when it is translated into English，the verb“was”is added in order to be fitted into the s-v form.Another character of English is that a main word may be followed by a set of attributes.In Chinese，however，we often use several independent sentences to describe a noun.For example，“又出來一位姑娘，年紀十八九歲”is translated into “there appeared on the stage a girl about eighteen or nineteen years old” .There are two independent sentences in Chinese but only one sentence with an attributive when they are translated into English.

2 On cultural level

If we say Lin Yutang only used domestication to cater to westernersneed to comprehend Shen Fus Fu Sheng Liu Ji，it is unfair.From Linguistic level，Lin adopted domestication to make the translation natural and readable.However，from cultural aspect，he used both domestication and foreignization to realize culture communication.Due to the constrained space，the author only selects some to analyze.

2.1是年七夕，蕓設(shè)香燭瓜果，同拜天孫于取軒中

On the seventh night of the seventh moon of that year，Yun prepared incense，candles and some melons and other fruit，so that we might worship the grandson of heaven.“The seventh day of the seventh moon is the only day in the year when the pair of heavenly lovers，the cowherd （“grandson of heaven”） and the spinster，are allowed to meet each other across the Milky Way.” （27）.

2.2 世傳月下老人專司人間婚姻事

It is said that the Old Man under the moon is in charge of matrimony （49）.

Lin adopted foreignization in that he translated“七夕”“天孫”into “On the seventh night of the seventh moon of that year” and “the grandson of heaven” with annotation that “the seventh day of the seventh moon is the only day in the year when the pair of heavenly lovers，the cowherd （“grandson of heaven”） and the spinster，are allowed to meet each other across the milky way.”Here，he transmitted the Chinese culture to the westerners and through annotation they know what the festival is.As for “the Old Man under the moon”，Lin did not add any annotation because he believed that foreigners could know the meaning from the following phrase“in charge of matrimony”.In summary，Lin used both two methods to transmit Chinese culture to the west.

3 Conclusion

From Lin Yutangs English version of“Six Chapters of a Floating Life”，we can get a glimpse of how he alternated successfully between the two methods to reach his translation aim.First，he realized naturalness in the translation and made his principle of“faithfulness”，“fluency”and“beauty”in full use.Thus，readers know and comprehend the book.With the aim of cross-culture communication，he applied foreignization to retain the original image of Chinese classic work.From his translation，we can also feel that domestication and foreignization are not contradictory but complementary to each other.

Reference

[1]Lin Yutang.Six Chapters of a Floating Life[M].Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2009.

作者簡介

劉明月（1988—），女，漢族，吉林省公主嶺市人，教育碩士，學校：陜西師范大學外國語學院；研究方向：學科教學（英語）。