Translators’ Styles From The Perspective Of The Theory On Stylistic Markers

As an influential autobiographical essay, Shenfu’s Fu Sheng Liu Ji occupies an important position in the literature of Qing Dynasty. The classic has been translated into various languages and widely acclaimed. Of all English versions, Lin Yutang’s Six Chapters of a Floating Life is the most famous and popular, and Shirley M. Black’s Chapters from a Floating Life: The Autobiography of a Chinese Artist has provoked great repercussions. However, few comparative researches focus on the two translators’ styles, the analysis of which is conducted with the aid of corpora under the framework of Liu Miqing’s theory on stylistic markers. The study addresses the following questions:1. What stylistic features does Lin Yutang’s version show in terms of lexical, syntactic, and textual markers?2. What stylistic features does Black’s version show in terms of lexical, syntactic, and textual markers?3. Are there any stylistic differences between Lin’s and Black’s versions? What factors can account for such differences?Stylistic markers consist of non-formal markers and formal markers. Three aspects of formal markers are examined. The analysis is made on lexical variation, lexical density and lexical frequency in terms of lexical markers, four-character structures and run-on sentences in terms of syntactic markers, and sentence length and cohesion in terms of textual markers. Qualitative and quantitative analyses are adopted at levels of lexical markers and textual markers, and qualitative analysis at the level of syntactic markers.Lexically, Lin’s translation has the relatively lower standardised type/token ratio(a narrower range of vocabulary), the relatively lower density(less content words) and the relatively higher total percentage of the high-frequency words(mainly more repeated functional words); therefore, it is concluded that Lin’s diction is simple, natural and colloquial, thus reducing information load and having a high readability and acceptance. On the contrary, Black’s translation has the relatively higher standardised type/token ratio(a wider range of vocabulary), the relatively higher density(less functional words) and the relatively lower total percentage of the high-frequency words(mainly more repeated functional words); consequently, Black’s diction is formal, factitious and unpopular, thus information-loaded as well as unreadable.Syntactically, in the translation of four-character structures, Lin accurately express the implications without sacrificing concision and liquidity, but Black’s provides as much information as possible, which seems somewhat lengthy and redundant. In the translation of run-on sentences, Lin’s version flexibly links up the ST sentences and logically achieves the semantic coherence; therefore, his style is clear, smooth and understandable. Conversely, Black’s version distorts the logical implication and fails to obtain the semantic coherence; therefore, his lacks faith and fluency, thus adding difficulty in understanding.Textually, as to mean sentence length, Lin’s sentences are long and structures are complicated, analytical and varied, which may be affected by the English grammar, but Black’s are short, incompact, and inflexible. Furthermore, Lin’s version is abundant in conjunctions that clearly express the logical relations of the source text; therefore, Lin’s style is flexible, coherent and highly readable. However, Black dislikes using conjunctions, thus causing the lack of precision and ambiguity; consequently, Black’s style is desultory, obscure and unintelligible. Different cultural backgrounds and translation orientations can account for such stylistic differences.As to the implications of the study, from the theoretical perspective of C-E translation, the application of the theory on stylistic markers in translation can be further enriched. Secondly, this study can provide some valuable translation experience for the retranslation of Fu Sheng Liu Ji. Thirdly, a comparative study of Lin’s and Black’s versions turns out to be of instructive value in the study of translators’ styles.