Fantasy in Translation: A Study of Two Chinese Versions of The Lord of the Rings

As a great fantasy work, Tolkienʹs The Lord of the Rings enjoys unprecedented popularity in China. However, translating the trilogy into Chinese is far from an easy job. By comparing two Chinese versions of Tolkienʹs The Lord of the Rings trilogy, this paper analyzes the problems and solutions in translating English fantasy literature into Chinese. It is indicated that the translation of fantasy literature is a complicated process regarding the style, the readership, and the culture background, etc. As fantasy is one of the most important criteria in evaluating the translation of fantasy literature, the key issue lies in how to reproduce the fantasy in the target text as much as possible and make the translated version readable and acceptable as well.