Transcreation in Lin Yutang’s Translation: Six Chapters of a Floating Life as a Case Study

Abstract

Lin Yutang is a famous Chinese scholar who is proficient in both Chinese and English languages and cultures. From the perspective of transcreation, this study explores Lin Yutang’s translation of culture-loaded words such as time, geographical name, food culture, appellation, wedding custom, garden, etc. in the translation of Six Chapters of a Floating Life, focusing on the transliteration, literal translation, free translation, domestication, foreignization, and other translation methods and strategies adopted by Lin Yutang. The in-depth study of Lin Yutang’s transcreation in the Six Chapters of a Floating Life contributes to the enrichment of transcreation theory and provides a variety of perspectives and methods for how to transform between the two cultures more efficiently.