A Study on Chinese-English Translation of Hunan Red Tourism Publicity Materials from the Perspective of Reception Aesthetics

Abstract

Red tourism, a special type of tourism with distinct Chinese characteristics, is an important indicator of Chinaʼs soft power. Red Tourism Translation (RTT) is a channel for China to introduce its red culture and provide foreigners with an understanding of Chinaʼs revolutionary history and traditions. Based on the fundamental principles of Reception Aesthetics such as horizon of expectation, aesthetic distance, semantic uncertainty and cultural gaps, this study analyzes cases and examines the cultural misunderstandings and mistranslations in English translation of the red tourism text in Mao Zedong Memorial Museum in Shaoshan, proposes a reader-centered model in RTT and argues that in RTT, the target readers should be comprehensively catered to at linguistic, cognitive, cultural and aesthetic levels. This model involves remaining faithful towards the original information, providing necessary background information, omitting redundant expressions, restructuring understandable aesthetic experience for the target readers, which will facilitate the smooth spread of Chinese red culture and realize the integrity, authenticity and uniqueness of its ethnic identity in this dissemination process.