A Translation Study of Cultural Vacancy in the book To Live under the Guidance of Relevance Translation Theory

Abstract

The cultural vacancy refers to the cultural information carried in one language that has no counterpart in another language. Cultural vacancies are common in the book To Live, and the quality of its translation affects foreign readers’ understanding and acceptance of the distinctive Chinese culture. In this paper, the author sorts out the version of To Live translated by Michael Berry on the Internet, and studies the English translation methods of its cultural vacancies guided by Relevance Translation Theory, including literal translation, free translation, and transliteration with annotations, in order to improve the translation quality of To Live, to accurately convey the meaning of the original text of To Live to foreign readers, to promote the exchange and dissemination of To Live written by Yu Hua and other excellent Chinese novels in the world, and improve China’s cultural soft power.