On Retranslation

Retranslation had witnessed its second boom during the 1980s and the 1990s. Essence of the interest in retranslation was retranslation done by different translators, arguing the necessity of it as their key issue. Rarely had they directed energy at any investigation of the phenomenon of retranslation done by the same translator.The three Chinese versions of A Passage to India are chosen in sequence of their publication, which can be categorized as retranslations by different translators or by the same translator. The present thesis is an endeavor to make new discoveries based on the two types of retranslations for analysis.Retranslation refers to"subsequent translations of a text","carried out after the initial translation which introduced this text to the'same'target language."It is widely acknowledged that retranslation in China had witnessed two booms. However, retranslations during the first period of the 1930s are not retranslation in a real sense. The division between experienced-based and theoretical approaches to retranslation studies characterized much retranslation researches ranging from the 1980s to the 1990s. According to the amount of changes taken place in retranslation, retranslation can be divided into three types, namely corrective retranslation, reconstructive retranslation and proselytizing retranslation. Comparing with Shi Youshan and her collaborators'version, Yang Zijian's retranslation in 1990 (T1990) belongs to the second type; while to T1990, Yang Zijian's retranslation in 2003 (T2003) is proselytizing type. Borrowing Hu Gengshen's theory of"translation as adaptation and selection", we find that reconstructive type of T1990 is not better than T1988 in terms of linguistic dimension, but it does show improvements in retranslating culturally-loaded terms. Retranslation T2003 stands out among the three concerning its"linguistic, cultural and communicative"adaptations to the"translational eco-environment". Meanwhile, it also demonstrates the advantages of retranslation done by the same translator. It is contended that retranslation is necessary only if it were the result of positive"adaptation and selection"to its"linguistic, cultural and communicative dimensions", can a retranslation prove to be"survival of the fittest."...