A Study Of English Translation Of Xu Sanguan Mai Xie Ji From The Perspective Of Toury’s Translation Norms Theory

Xu Sanguan Mai Xie Ji is the first realistic novel after the famous Chinese avant-garde writer Yu Hua transforms his writing style.And now this novel is translated into some foreign languages and welcomed by Western readers.Its English version translated by Andrew F.Jones won Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award in 2004.However,this novel and its English version have not gained enough attention from the field of translation studies.Taking Toury’s Translation Norms Theory as the theoretical framework,this thesis will make a case study of Xu Sanguan Mai Xie Ji and its English version to explore how the translator is manipulated and influenced by the three translation norms in the process of translation.The descriptive research method of quantitative and qualitative combination is used to solve the following problems:(1)How are the initial norms,preliminary norms and operational norms embodied in the English translation process of Xu Sanguan Mai Xie Ji?(2)How do these three translation norms affect the choice of translator Andrew F.Jones and his use of translation strategies and methods?(3)Based on the Translation Norms Theory,what are the characteristics of the English version of Xu Sanguan Mai Xie Ji?After analyzing a large number of examples,this thesis finds that the translator is influenced by translation norms in the whole translation process.Under the influence of preliminary norms,the translator initiates the translation activity of the book by virtue of his personal interest in its content and Chinese culture,the times he lived in and the author’s position in the English world,which not only meets the needs of cultural exchange between China and the West,but reflects the necessity and feasibility of direct translation.Secondly,under the constraints of the initial norms,the translator adopts domestication to make the translated text acceptable to the target language readers.However,the translator does not completely abandon foreignization.When translating words or things with Chinese cultural characteristics,he adopts literal translation or transliteration to spread Chinese culture to Western readers and create a new reading experience effectively.Finally,operational norms,including matricial norms and textual-linguistic norms,mainly focus on the practical stage of translation.Under the constraints of the matricial norms,the translator reconstructs the target text structure by means of paragraph relocation and repeated sentence deletion,but he still ensures the integrity of the original content and presents a clear target text for the readers.Textual-linguistic norms focus on the choice and use of sentences and words.Under the influence of this norm,the translator adopts the translation strategies of domestication and foreignization to translate cultural-loaded words,idioms and vulgar words,which shortens the distance between target readers and the translated text and enhances the readability and acceptability of the translation.When translating sentences,the translator tends to use domestication to make target text more fluent by adjusting sentence order or adding connectives.Through this study,the thesis can make some supplements for the existing research results of the English version of Xu Sanguan Mai Xie Ji from the perspective of Toury’s Translation Norms Theory,and it can objectively represent translation norms and their influence on translators in different translation stages to obtain a more comprehensive review of the English version’s translation phenomenon.Meanwhile,the thesis looks forward to bringing some enlightenment to the English translation study of Yu Hua’s works and literary translation.