Cultural Consciousness and Translation Consciousness of Literary Classics—Taking the English Translation of Dream of the Red Chamber as an Example

Abstract

With the in-depth exchanges among different cultural entities, phenomena such as cultural misunderstandings, cultural discrimination, and cultural confrontations occur from time to time, which have affected the overseas dissemination of literary classics and the process of their foreign-language adaptation. The difficulties in the translation of classics caused by the cultural differences between China and the West have seriously hindered the effectiveness and timeliness of the dissemination of classics. Regarding such issues, Mr. Fei Xiaotong’s proposition of “cultural consciousness” can provide relevant solutions. This paper takes the Chinese classic Dream of the Red Chamber as an example. By comparing the content differences of different English translations of Dream of the Red Chamber, and inspired by the theory of “cultural consciousness”, it further explores the feasibility and effectiveness of translation consciousness in the process of the foreign dissemination of literary classics. To some extent, cultural consciousness and translation consciousness of literary classics are different manifestations of the same nature. Therefore, the translation consciousness of literary classics can also be regarded as an extension and expansion of cultural consciousness at the translation and introduction level, thus playing a certain role in promoting the foreign translation and dissemination of classic literature.