A Comparative Study Of The Four English Versions Of Ah Q Zheng Zhuan From The Perspective Of Literary Stylistics

In the field of literary translation,the translation of style has always been the focus of translation researchers at home and abroad.At the same time,with the continuous development of stylistics,different stylistic analytical models have brought many inspirations to those researchers.Among them,literary stylistics,being an important branch has not only enlightened literary translation researchers,but also is conducive to the cultivation of stylistic awareness for those researchers and even translators.Its analytical model is to explain how the author expresses and enhances the thematic meanings and aesthetic effects of the text through the choice of language under the guidance of linguistic methodology.This thesis selects four English translations of Lu Xun’s novel Ah Q Zheng Zhuan,and makes a detailed comparative study of these four translations from the literary stylistic analytical mode.Ah Q Zheng Zhuan is a distinctive satirical novel which tells the life story of a peasant called Ah Q who lives in the village named Wei Zhuang during Revolution of 1911,and his greatest feature is his spiritual victory.Its corresponding translations are abundant,including Chi-Chen Wang’s,Yangs’ s,Lyell’s and Lovell’s versions,and each of them has its own characteristics.Based on literary stylistic analytical model,this paper compares the stylistic differences of the four translations from the aspects of language forms,rendering of fiction,speech and thought presentation to explore the influence of different translation choices on the transmission of thematic meanings and aesthetic values of the source text.Through a comparative analysis of a certain number of cases,this paper finds that the four translations all exhibit different types of “faithfulness”,but judging from the criterion of “faithfulness” to the source text,and more specifically speaking,“faithfulness” to those linguistic expressions possessed of thematic meanings and aesthetic effects,Lyell’s and Yangs’ versions,compared with Chi-Chen Wang’s and Lovell’s versions,have reproduced or retained the linguistic forms and contents closely related to thematic meanings and aesthetic values of the source text by virtue of different methods of “faithfulness”.The outstanding features of Lyell’s translation are its tension of language,deep interpretation of cultural connotations,adaptation to the linguistic forms of the target language,and faithful recreation of linguistic style of the source text,thus contributing to the deepening of thematic meanings and recreation of aesthetic values.The prominent features of Yangs’ translation are the accurate correspondence between the linguistic forms and contents of the source text and the translator’s restraint,thus contributing to the preservation of the thematic meanings and aesthetic values of the source text.This paper believes that in the process of translation,no matter what kinds of translation methods or strategies will be used,translators should always have stylistic awareness and pay special attention to the linguistic forms and contents closely related to thematic meanings and aesthetic values of the source text,and convey the stylistic features of the source text as much as possible.