Cultural Mediation Through Translation

This chapter investigates the dynamics of cultural mediation in literary translation by examining how culture-specific items (CSIs) are rendered in two English translations of Lu Xun's seminal novella, The True Story of Ah Q. As a foundational figure in modern Chinese literature, Lu Xun's writings are rich in culture-laden expressions that encapsulate the socio-political structures, local traditions, and linguistic features of early twentieth-century China. These elements pose significant challenges in translation, especially when the goal is to retain cultural authenticity while ensuring accessibility to foreign readers. This study adopts a mixed-methods framework to analyze translation strategies and to evaluate how readers perceive the effectiveness of these strategies in communicating cultural content.