Dynamic Adaptation of Cultural Vacancy Translation in A Dream of Red Mansions

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【Abstract】 This paper is a tentative analysis of cultural vacancy translation in A Dream of red mansions by Yang Xianyi based on four aspects of social world， a constituent of adaptation to social world of target reader， with a research into the practical value of the theory for cultural vacancy translation. Finally， the results show that the translator may make an adaptation to the social world of the target readers with various translation techniques to tackle effectively cultural vacancy and transmit culture in a constructive way.

【Keywords】 cultural vacancy translation； social element； Adaptation Theory；

《红楼梦》英译本中文化空缺翻译的动态适应

【摘要】本文以维什尔伦的顺应社交世界为理论基础，主要从社交世界的几方面分析《红楼梦》杨宪益译本中文化空缺翻译，旨在探讨该理论对文化空缺翻译的实践价值，研究发现译者会采用不同的翻译策略，以便有效地补偿文化空缺，成功地传播文化。

【关键词】文化空缺翻译 社会因素 适应论

1. Introduction

As the extreme form of embodiment of the heterogeneity of both language and culture， the study of cultural vacancy began not very long ago. In the 1950s， Charks Hockett first noticed the phenomenon of vacancy and named it “random holes in patterns” （1954）. In the 1970s， the discussion of “vacancy” aroused researchers’ interests and promoted the research in this field. In the late 1980s， Sorokin together with some other scholars propounded the theory of “cultural vacancy” in this research paper focusing cultural peculiarities of diverse nations. In China， many researchers are also concerned with cultural vacancy. A Dream of Red Mansions is a most fascinating reflection of the glittering grandeur of Chinese literature as well as an encyclopedic legendary masterpiece embodying politics， history， culture and aesthetics， fruit of the Chinese culture over five thousand years. Due to the unique literary characteristics and heavily culture -loaded expressions in A Dream of Red Mansions， cultural vacancy inevitably exists in the process of translating this novel from Chinese into English. It is arduous for the translator to reproduce all cultural metaphors contained in the original text. In this study， the author adopts the one aspect of Adaptation Theory to tentatively observe how the translators， Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang， tackle the cultural vacancy with an effort to facilitate successfully cultural interaction between countries.

2. Adaptation to Social Elements

Central to the processes of （inter）adaptation in language or to the meaningful functioning of language is the dynamic generation of meaning. According to Verschueren， the dynamic generation of meaning is in relation to both contextual correlates and structural objects of adaptability， especially the social dimensions of communication. Within these settings and institutions many linguistic choices depend on the relationship of dependence and authority， or power and solidarity. The most remarkable thing to notice about the motivations underlying the adaptation effort is the diverse culture. As an essential part of the social world， culture has been a favorite social-world correlative to linguistic choice and also one of the most potentially misleading notions in intercultural communication. Cultural variables， such as beliefs， values， experiences， and so on， have a significant influence on the translator’s choice-making in translation. Translation is cross-cultural communication， whose crucial task is to transfer cultural information faithfully and expressively， as it does for cultural vacancy translation.