Exploring translation strategies for didactic literature

Abstract

In recent years, the topic of self-love has gained much momentum around the world. For instance, in China, the younger generation has developed an interest in understanding the western version of this concept. In the Chinese culture, self-love is a rare topic, making relevant resources difficult to find. Considering this trend, I have chosen the book The Gift of Self Love: A Workbook to Help You Build Confidence, Recognize Your Worth, and Learn to Finally Love Yourself as the source text, to introduce this concept to the Chinese audience. The different cultural elements and expressions found in the ST are the most difficult parts of this project to translate. It is important to accurately depict the many elements and expressions in order to help better the audience’s understanding of the ST. Due to the didactic nature of the ST, it is imperative for the translator to consider the tone and style of the texts in order to create the same effect on the target readers. Utilizing Newmark’s communicative theory, the translator has carefully analyzed functions of the ST before starting the translation. This project report has revealed that when translating foreign concepts, domestication and foreignization should both be employed in order to convey the source culture to the target audience. Overall, this project explored many strategies in terms of conveying the cultural concepts in translation.