A Study on the English Translation Strategies of Dialects in Northeast Chinese Literary Works —Taking Xiao Jun’s Village in August as the Case

Abstract

Against the backdrop of building a culturally strong nation and enhancing international communication capacity, this study focuses on the translation of Northeast Chinese dialects in the English versions of Xiao Jun’s Village in August. Integrating the educational goals of ideological and political education in courses, it conducts an in-depth exploration of the strategic choices in dialect translation and the pathways for cultural transmission. By analyzing the semantic difficulties in dialect translation, the challenges in conveying cultural connotations, and issues of reader acceptance, the study compares specific translated examples to reveal the applicable scenarios of different translation strategies. Meanwhile, it incorporates the ideological and political concept of “telling Chinese stories well” into the analysis, emphasizing that translating dialects into English is not merely a linguistic conversion but also an international interpretation of the family-country feelings and national spirit embedded in regional culture. The research finds that flexible application of strategies such as “transliteration + annotation” and “foreignization as the main approach with domestication as a supplement” can both preserve the cultural characteristics of Northeast Chinese dialects and help international readers understand the diversity of Chinese regional cultures. Moreover, translators’ cultural awareness and ideological-political consciousness are crucial to achieving the goal of “conveying emotions through translation and embodying morality through literature”. This study provides a tripartite teaching framework of “linguistic practice + cultural inheritance + value guidance” for literary translation education, which is of great significance for cultivating translation talents with cross-cultural communication capabilities and a sense of family and country.