A Study Of Goldblatt’s Big Breasts And Wide Hips From The Perspective Of Stylistic Theory

Style translation in literary works has been a matter in dispute which can be concluded in two parts. First, can style be translated? Second, how is style translated?With regard to the definition of style, scholars also held different views. Liu Miqing(2005) put forward that style is not intangible but attainable and thus put forward the "Stylistic System" containing formal markers and non-formal markers, specifically phonological markers, register markers, syntactic markers, lexical markers, textual markers, markers of figures of speech, the way of expression, the acceptance and responses of readers, the feeling and emotion of the author, the spirit and the personality of the writer.This thesis takes the style translation of the Big Breasts and Wide Hips as the object of study. Mo Yan’s novel the Big Breasts and Wide Hips is the best representative which represents Mo Yan’s writing style. And its English version is translated by the famous translator Howard Goldblatt who has translated many Chinese literary works which have arisen great attention in the western world. This thesis is intended to apply Liu Miqing’s stylistic theory to study the style translation of typical writings in the Big Breasts and Wide Hips in order to have some findings in theory and practice.This thesis first gives an introduction to the development of style and stylistics; it mentions Western and Chinese theories on style and stylistics and demonstrates the translatability of style and its limitations.Second, it gives the theoretical frame of this thesis:Liu Miqing’s stylistic theory.Third, it describes the stylistic features of the Big Breasts and Wide Hips and Howard Goldblatt’s standpoints and strategies on translation and then gives a detailed analysis of the style translation of the novel according to the formal markers and non-formal markers of Liu Miqing’s stylistic theory.The research questions are (1) How does Goldblatt reproduce the style of the Big Breasts and Wide Hips? (2) Are there limitations in style translation of the Big Breasts and Wide Hips?This thesis has the following findings:First, Howard Goldblatt is conscious of the stylistic markers and tries to reproduce them in his way. Second, the style of the original text will be impaired in some way. Third, Howard has made use of shift of word class, liberal translation, transliteration, imitation, change of image, etc. during the process of style translation. Fourth, there are limitations in style translation. Lastly, enlightenment on translation practice can be gained, that is, in the process of style translation, we should grasp both the linguistic features and the thought and emotion the author is intended to express. Language is a tool while thought and emotion expressed is the purpose. And if the two conflicts with each other in the process of translation, the formal markers should be impaired.