On Translation Norms Of Two English Versions Of Lao Can You Ji

This thesis mainly explores the norms of two English versions of Lao Can You Ji. As an important phenomenon gradually unveiled with the development of translation studies and became one of the significant research subjects since 1980s, norms mark the turning point in translation studies. Traditionally, researchers always focus on finding out the similarity of translations and prescribe the rules of doing translation. Now their focus turns to tolerate all kinds of translating writings and describe the translation norms. Translation is a complex social communication behavior, so the study of it should not be limited within the discussion of texts, but at the macro level. Norms shoulder the connection between translation and social culture. Through the study of the time and social background of translators and the strategies they use, we could reconstruct the norms they conform to or not conform to so as to learn how the cultural elements influence the process of translation as well as the characteristics and subjectivity of the translator.The normative approach to translation studies is an important approach to start descriptive translation studies. Toury, Chesterman, Nord and Hermans are representatives in the field of translation norm studies. As Chesterman's norm theory is comprehensive and advanced, this thesis goes from his norm theory to practice. Chesterman classifies translational norms into expectancy norms and professional norms, with the latter further divided into accountability norms, communication norms and relation norms.Written in 1906, Lao Can You Ji has been circulating for nearly a century and many people think highly of the author Liu E's mastery of language. Among the late Qing-dynasty novels, it is a prominent work artistically and earned the title as one of the four novels of denunciation of late Qing-dynasty. Early in 1929, Arthur Waley published the translation of the third chapter of the novel in a magazine named Asia. Among the various English versions published afterwards, there are two worth close appreciation—one is translated by Harold Shadick; the other by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang. From the descriptive study both of the micro elements within the texts and macro elements beyond the texts, correspondent translation norms could be reconstructed and applied to reliable explanations of some special phenomena. The thesis bases on the objective analysis of Lao Can You Ji and its two English versions and takes Chesterman's norm theory as the theoretical frame. Within the text, translation strategies would be drawn out from the comparative study of the two English versions and help with the reconstruction of translation norms. Beyond the text, the study of the two English versions would be conducted under the macro context of correspondent time and social background, through the statements and comments by translators, editors, publishers and readers to expose potential norms. Therefore, how to unveil and reconstruct norms accurately and correctly, how to apply them to reliable explanation of some special phenomena, and how to get an objective conclusion are the key points of the thesis.As for the studies of Lao Can You Ji's English versions, the limitations are clear: firstly, they focus on the analysis of several excerptions as a kind of appreciation; secondly, most of them still do the research within the texts. Creatively applying Chesterman's norm theory to the analysis of Chinese classic novel, this thesis will give a comprehensive study of the whole texts through various samples and compare the two English versions both within and beyond the texts to provide a new perspective for the appreciation study of Chinese classics.