Abstract

As cultural contacts increase, literary works have emerged as a vital medium for disseminating Chinese culture. The folk languages present in these literary pieces pose significant challenges in conveying the original meanings due to the intricacies of translating such languages. Therefore, this paper examines the translation of folk language in Jia Pingwa’s Ruined City, utilizing a self-constructed bilingual parallel corpus and UAMCT software to annotate and analyze the translation methods and strategies used for the folk language elements. It was found that the text contains 1,033 instances of folk language, with domestication emerging as the predominant translation strategy. Domestication was primarily achieved through free translation, while various translation methods were employed to strike a balance between readability and the preservation of cultural distinctiveness. This paper illustrates the application, preference context, and effect of free translation, literal translation, omission, idiom translation, and mixed translation methods in specific sentences, aiming to build a strategic framework for the folk language translation of Ruined City and provide references for cross-language communication of similar folk literature works.

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