Chapter Six Conclusion
6.1 Major Findings
The thesis focuses on the specificity in Cyril Birch’s translation of Mu Dan Ting from the perspective of ICM. Through the descriptive study, the thesis has yielded concrete results concerning theory application and evaluation of the translation effects. For the explanatory capacities of the ICM theory, the thesis demonstrates that it features high practical value, as evidenced in each case study. With its guidance, the author can deduce the possible cognitive activities of target readers, and carry out an in-depth analysis of cases in an objective way. Also, by delving into a theory within Cognitive Linguistics, the thesis serves as an example for interdisciplinary translation studies. Cognitive Translatology can provide new perspectives for translation studies, expanding the repertoire of translation methods and translation strategies.
In analysis, the thesis also finds that Mu Dan Ting has characteristics in three aspects, namely, cultural aspect, theatrical aspect, and stylistic aspect. At the cultural aspect, it contains abundant Chinese culture-specific content, like allusions, rites and conventions, social belief, and so on. At the theatrical aspect, it features a promptbook-like narrative mode in character-building and narrative style as it is adapted from the promptbook Bridal Du Longing for Love Returns in Spirit Form. Besides, at the stylistic aspect, Mu Dan Ting, as the Ming and Qing chuanqi, has textual components and literary forms more or less different from other literary genres. The characteristics in these three aspects give rise to the artistic and literary value of Mu Dan Ting, and they should be represented in translated text to let readers comprehend the ST and learn Chinese culture. But due to cognitive and linguistic differences between Chinese and English readers, it poses grave challenges for translators.
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