Comparative Study on the Translation of Culture-loaded Words in Chang Sheng Dian by Xu Yuanchong and Yang Xianyi from the Perspective of Cognitive Translatology

Abstract

Culture-loaded words contain vocabulary with different cultural connotations between countries and are rich in cultural colors. The essay chooses two mainstream English translation editions of Chang Sheng Dian and adopts cognitive translatology as a theoretical framework to carry out a comparative analysis of the culture-loaded words with reference to three aspects: embodiment, interactivity and creativity. Research has found that, as a native Chinese translator, Xu Yuanchong has a stronger understanding of the original text, so he can achieve the similar experience as the original author through cognition and understanding. With regard to interactivity, both sets of translators consider the relationship between the translator and the reader on the basis of experience and interaction with the text and the objective world. In respect of creativity, owing to the cognitive disparities among translators, in order to have a better comprehension of the information that the original author intends to convey, both Xu Yuanchong and Yang Xianyi exercise their creative faculties in individual thinking in terms of word and sentence selection as well as strategy adoption. Moreover, during the translation process, the cognitive backgrounds of the two groups of translators are among the factors that determine the choice of translation strategies, resulting in differences in translation styles between the two translations.