Author(s)

Haodong An ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Coventry University London Campus, 109-117 Middlesex Street, London, UK

Corresponding Author

Haodong An

ABSTRACT

Translating toponymy or place names in literary works is a particular branch of Culture Translation. Target readers always wonder about the real cultural meaning of the place names when they read translated literary works. As one of China's Four Great Classical Novels, Journey to the West is a masterpiece that contains a large number of place names. When translating the place names in Journey to the West, the selection of translation strategies is significant, for it may directly influence readers' understanding of the stories. The author chooses W.J.F. Jenner's English version of Journey to the West — Journey to the West as the research object. Firstly, the author classifies the toponymy in the novel into 4 types, then analyses the translation strategies and methods adopted in the English version, and finally summarizes the general rules of translating toponymy in Journey to the West. That is, transliteration is usually adopted in translating countries’ and cities' names; when translating the names of buildings and natural places, the literal translation is the first choice; other methods like free translation, omission and amplification can be considered when simple translation method cannot express the cultural meaning of the places clearly. All in all, foreignization is the primary strategy adopted in translating toponymy in Journey to the West, and domestication is a minor or additional strategy.

KEYWORDS

Journey to the West, Toponymy, Translation strategies, Domestication, Foreignization

CITE THIS PAPER

Haodong An , Study on the Strategies of Translating Toponymy in Journey to the West. Lecture Notes on Language and Literature (2023) Vol. 6: 11-19. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/langl.2023.060403.

REFERENCES

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