Translating culture-specific and genre specific terms in martial arts fiction from the perspective of reception aesthetics: a case study of Kunlun

Abstract

Wuxia, or martial arts fiction is a genre of Chinese literature that is immensely popular with the Chinese and Chinese-speaking diaspora, spawning hit television dramas, films, and video games over the years. It is an action-packed genre steeped in Chinese language and culture and operating within the boundaries of a xia code, of which there is no analogous equivalent in English. This project seeks to address the challenges translators face in adopting relevant translation strategies to convey meaning and connotation of genre-specific and culture-specific terms found in martial arts fiction and how the application of the reception aesthetics theory can serve as a guide in the translation process. Excerpts of Kunlun, a martial arts fiction novel published in 2008 by Feng Ge, is translated as part of this project. This is followed by a thorough analysis on the application of the reception aesthetics theory and how it influenced the translation strategies adopted, such as foreignization, domestication, or a mix of both. This addresses research questions including the types of strategies that could be employed to effectively recreate the same reading experience for a target language reader as it is for a source language reader, as well as satisfy the reader’s directed and creative horizons of expectation. In the course of translation, the translator should not assume that the target reader is a passive recipient of the translation and take care to not “overfill” the “gaps” to leave room for the reader’s imagination and appreciation of the original work. This project will serve as a useful reference for future translations of related works.

Keywords: reception aesthetics, martial arts fiction, culture-specific items, domestication and foreignization