David Hawkes' Reconstructing The Female Images In The Story Of The Stone

Figures are regarded as the soul of literary works and the study of figures is one important branch in literary research.Hong Lou Meng,the greatest Chinese classical novel,has created many lifelike figures which have been a focus of Redology with abundant research results.Nevertheless,in Hong Lou Meng Translation Studies,the research of characters is a weak link,with few related studies and even less systematic or in-depth research.Based on Ronald W.Langacker's cognitive construal theory,this paper makes a detailed and systematic analysis of Lin Daiyu,Xue Baochai,Jia Tanchun and Wang Xifeng in the first 80 chapters of David Hawkes' version The Story of the Stone at the micro level from four dimensions of specificity,scope,perspective and salience.Based on the analysis,the changes of the character images are summarized and the common trends of the reconstruction are discussed.A further discussion is made on the main reasons for the change by using the translation theories of Hermeneutics and manipulation.Through a systematic analysis of the language deviation,following changes have been found :The tragedy of Daiyu has greatly diminished.Daiyu is a typical tragic image.The original highlights her infirmity,sentimentality and the pure love between her and Baoyu which later turns into an illusion;at the same time,the myth of returning tears throughout the book and a series of tragic images also create a rich tragic atmosphere.However,in The Story of the Stone,in terms of appearance,her grace rather than her weakness is stressed,and her speech and behaviour become more vigorous,so the emphasis of her delicacy is greatly weakened;in the description of her love with Baoyu,lots of explanations are added,which makes the obscure love description become straightforward,while her words to Baoyu become more fierce,all these lead to the eclipse of the beauty of their love;at the same time,the myth of returning tears is ignored and a large number of tragic images failed in reproduction because of the Chinese and English cultural differences.As a result,the tragic nature of Daiyu is reduced.Baochai,the “cold” beauty,is more ardent.In the original,Baochai is a real lady.Her thoughts,words and deeds are all in line with the feudal ethics;she treats everyone kindly but always keeps people at a distance;at the same time,the original deliberately uses many cultural images to highlight her “cold” so as to construct her image as “cold beauty”.In The Story of the Stone,though she proclaims more orthodox views,she is more casual and frank in everyday life;and she does not always behave properly as she is in the original,sometimes she seems too sterner while sometimes too earnest;in addition,some cultural images that highlight her“cold” cannot be represented.As a whole,the reconstruction of her image as a “cold beauty” is insufficient.Tanchun becomes smarter and more biting.In the original,Tanchun is known as “Smart” for her intelligence and ability.However,even her competency and her sharpness toward her mother Aunt Zhao is stressed,basically,she is a lady: she is gentle,and she also respects Aunt Zhao in accordance with etiquette.While in The Story of the Stone,her shrewd authority as a manager is further underlined;her attitude towards Aunt Zhao has become more sensitive and bitter while her elegance and courteousness have been ignored: she has transformed from a politician in the boudoir to a complete smart manager.Xifeng becomes more competent and vivid.In the original,Xifeng has a strong personality.She fully revealed her shrewdness and sophistication in managing family affairs,exposed her hypocrisy and virulence in the events of Jia Rui and You Erjie;and exhibited her boldness and biting wit in her words and deeds which are rarely seen in aristocratic women,even though she never shows any exceeding of the feudal ethics.While in The Story of the Stone,with the change of specificity and salience,Xifeng becomes more intelligent,articulate,powerful,hypocritical,vicious,shrewd,fierce and vain.At the same time,she talks and behaves in a more vibrant way.On the whole,Wang Xifeng becomes even more capable and boisterous.The changes of the four female characters are varied,yet some common tendencies can be found: the weakening of ladylike characteristics and the strengthening of individual ability and personality.In the original,whether the standard lady Baochai,or Daiyu who is a little petty,or Tanchun who is sharp to her mother,even the unruly Xifeng,they are all in essence the gentlewoman abide by feudal ethics.In The Story of the Stone,however,their observance of etiquette tends to be ignored,while some characteristics that are not in line with the requirements of the ladies of the time,such as Daiyu's intelligence,Tanchun's management capabilities,Xifeng's shrewdness and spiciness,are further highlighted.The main reasons for the transformation of the female characters in The Story of the Stone are: Firstly,the openness of literary texts leaves a space for translators to reconstruct the characters.In Hong Lou Meng,there are many blanks and unfixed points.The vague language expression and the hard-to-copy poetic mood objectively provide the possibility for various interpretations.Secondly,the cultural gap between China and the west make it impossible for translators to have a perfect representation of characters.Due to the differences between Chinese and English languages,some Chinese characters in the original are impossible to reproduce,while the cultural differences cause the loss of Chinese unique cultural images,which all lead to the deformation of characters.Thirdly,the translator's established notions are inevitably involved in the rewriting and remolding of the characters.The strict hierarchy concept of traditional Chinese families has been substituted by egalitarian outlook,which makes the four female characters show more equal tendency when they get along with others;and the obedience image of traditional Chinese women in the original unconsciously catch the shadow of modern women under the influence of equal feminist concept.The research proves that examining the translated text from the perspective of cognitive construal can help us to reveal the subtle differences and be aware of the changing trend of the characters' image,and also help us to see the attitude of the translator towards the characters.Translation of classic literary works is one of the most effective ways to promote the reception of Chinese culture in the world.The enlightenment of this study is that as it is hard to avoid the deviation of the image of characters in translation,we should not only accept the inevitable deformation,but also give full play to our subjective initiative to promote cultural integration,so as to reduce the deformation in translation.