关键词: 西西, 余丹, 文字游戏, 文化问题, 翻译方法, 中英翻译

Abstract: Wordplay appeals to readers' knowledge of the cultural context of a work and native competence in the written language. The linguistic and cultural gaps between Chinese and English make wordplay a seemingly insurmountable barrier in translation. The Hong Kong writer Xixi is known for her keenness in wordplay. Her novel Flying Carpet is characteristic in this respect. However, in her English translation Diana Yue responded to the challenges posed by Xixi's wordplay effectively. It is seen that the translator solved the problems of wordplay entirely on the textual level without resorting to the aid of footnotes. Yue's translation methods are therefore a topic of interest in academic study. In this essay, I will identify and classify the wordplay examples by comparing Xixi's original work and Yue's English translation. I will also conduct a detailed analysis on the translation problems of each wordplay, and Yue's strategies and techniques in coping with each of them. As a conclusion, I will evaluate the success and shortcomings of Yue's translation, and establish a set of principles and methods in wordplay translation between Chinese and English. My goal, at last, is to demonstrate that wordplay is translatable.