A Comparative Study on Kung Hungming’s Version and Waley’s Version of the Analects “Lun Yu” from Adaptation Theory

Abstract

The Analects, Chinese original name Lun Yu, as the most important Confucius book, has enjoyed its powerful vitality with its enduring influence in Sinology home and abroad. People have made many attempts to explore its problems of translations, hoping to account for factors behind individual versions of Lun Yu. However, what the researchers based either on language-oriented or culture-oriented theory, a systematic study is on demand with the development on Confucianism research. This thesis explores two English versions of Lun Yu in light of the adaptation theory of Translational ecology. It provides a new way to interpret Lun Yu as the representative cultural classic. The research objective can be attained as: in light of Verscheren’s adaptation theory, different translations of Lun Yu can be investigated comprehensively at the Language-internal and the language-external levels. The adaptation theory can manifest the translators’ subjectivity according to different eco-translational environment. Moreover, the research focuses on Kung Hung ming’s translation version and Arther Waley’s version with their distinct features which can thrown light on the readers to understand Lun Yu from a new perspective. In this thesis, a descriptive approach is adopted in the comparative analysis on the two versions of Lun Yu. This research can provide an attempting and concept for the broader context of translation study.