Translation Analysis Of Rhetorical Devices In Expostulation Of Zizhi Tongjian From The Perspective Of Translation Norms

As the first historiography book in the form of chronicle in China,Zizhi Tongjian boasts high historical and literary value.It is found that there are a lot of rhetorical devices in expostulation of Zizhi Tongjian,and the English translation of rhetorical devices is significant in the reproduction of the source culture.The theory of translation norms by Israeli scholar Gideon Toury mainly discusses the norms that affect the translator’s decision-making process.Toury believes that translation is an activity governed by norms,and initial norms are the decisions made by translators before translation activity.That is,the overall choice made by translators.If translators subject themselves to the source culture and norms,then the translation would be adequate.On the contrary,if translators subject themselves to the target culture and norms,then the translation would be acceptable.Based on the theoretical framework of Toury’s initial norms,the paper takes the excerpt translation version of Rafe de Crespigny as research text,and the six representative rhetorical devices in expostulation of Zizhi Tongjian,including simile,metaphor,metonymy,allusion,rhetorical question and antithesis are collected according to the classification standards of The Comparison and Translation of English and Chinese Rhetoric.Data collection and qualitative analysis are adopted to analyze the rhetorical devices translation in expostulation of Zizhi Tongjian.The main research contents are as follows : First,the overall translation inclination of rhetorical devices in expostulation of Zizhi Tongjian is explored.Second,the translation methods have been used to achieve different inclinations are analyzed.It is found out that,first,Rafe retained the source rhetoric to the maximum extent to reproduce the source norms and expostulation effect,therefore the overall translation inclination of rhetorical devices in expostulation of Zizhi Tongjian is adequacy.As to metaphor and metonymy,due to their conciseness in language and diversity in cultural connotations,the translator achieved more acceptability considering readers’ understanding.Second,to achieve adequacy in translation,literal translation,literal translation plus annotation and transference plus annotation are the dominated translation methods.To achieve acceptability,descriptive equivalent,functional equivalent,explicitation,cultural equivalent and generalization are used to reproduce Chinese culture-specific expressions in source rhetoric,sometimes modulation is used at syntactical level.In the process ofacceptable translation,sometimes the images or rhetorical devices of the source language have to be sacrificed so that target readers could understand and accept the text.The study also finds out that there are some mistranslations which fail to achieve the same expostulation effect as the source language,and pertinent suggestions have been offered.It is suggested that in the process of translating rhetorical devices,translators should reserve the source rhetoric to the maximum extent and employ various translation methods flexibly to reproduce the source rhetoric and culture.