Title: A Study on English Translation of the Marginal Female Character of Hong Lou Meng: A Case Study of Xiao Hong

Abstract: Through a comparative analysis of the character image of Xiao Hong, one of the marginalized female characters in Hong Lou Meng and its four English translations, the article finds that Hawkes’ translation something can’t be “more unique” in its recreation the characterization of the original text. The image of Xiao Hong in the translation is more vivid than that of the original text, and the translator gave Xiao Hong more positive and sunny femininity. Besides, this translation also has a more obvious tendency to be closer to the target language readers. While the character image of Xiao Hong in Yang’s version is not as distinctive as that in Hawkes’ translation, it also better reproduced the image of Xiao Hong from the original text. For the versions of Joly and Bonsall, although both translators have attempted to faithfully reproduce the character of the original text, the translators’ understanding of the original text and their grasp of the character’s personalities is not as good as Hawkes and Yang, so they are somewhat lacking in reconstructing the characterization of Xiao Hong.

Keywords: Hong Lou Meng, English translations of Chinese classics, marginal female, Xiao Hong

Author: Bing Zhang, Lecturer, International College, Guangzhou College of Commerce, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China; Ph.D. Candidate, Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation, Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, China.

DOI: 10.19967/j.cnki.flc.2022.03.009