A Study Of Three Chinese Versions Of Tess Of D' Urbervilles Viewed From The Perspective Of Theory Of Translation Norms

For a long time, prescriptive translation studies played a dominant role.Since 1970s, the descriptive translation norms study has transcended the limitation of traditional translation standard and broadened the view and research field of translation studies, resulting in the flourishing phenomenon of translation studies. As one of the most important representatives of translation norm theory, Gideon Toury firstly launched the translation studies from the perspective of translation norms. Basing on a great deal of case studies, he pointed out clearly that translation was a norm-governed activity and categorized three kinds of norms:preliminary norms, initial norms and operational norms.Later, Chesterman and Hermans developed theory of translation norms, and their study reveal that from the choice of a text to translate, to the translation strategy to adopt before translation, then to the skills used in actual translation process, a translator is without exception influenced and bound by various factors or norms.Therefore, the thesis introduces the existing achievements in the study of Chinese translations of Tess of the D'Urbervilles and tries to explore the translation norms behind the three translations (Zhang Guruo's version, Sun Fali's version and Wu Di's version). With a detailed comparative analysis of three versions, the thesis reveals the influence of norms upon the translating and translation products. The purpose of the thesis is to enrich the existing research results regarding the translations of Tess from a descriptive perspective and to help faciliate a more thorough and comprehensive understanding of the translation phenomenon. The translators of the novel are found to have been influenced by both the source and the target cultures between which they have to make a balance and compromise so as to achieve intended translation effects. Functioning at the different stages of translating, the norms constrain translator's choices of the source text, the linguistic style of the target text as well as translating strategies. These norms are explanatory tools for revealing the causes behind different translations.There are six chapters in this paper. Chapter One introduces the background, significance and structure of this thesis. Chapter Two makes a review of studies on translation of Tess in China and norm study at home and abroad; On the ground of an in-and-abroad norm study, Chapter Three carries out a detailed analysis of the definition, classification and nature of norms. Chapter Four introduces Thomas Hardy,Tess of the D'Urbervilles and three translators. Chapter Five carries out a case study on Zhang's, Sun's and Wu's versions of Tess of the D'Urbervilles from the perspective of initial norms, preliminary norms and operational norms respectively, to discover the various factors that determine their choice of the novel and the strategies they adopted in their versions. Chapter Six is a conclusion of the whole thesis, with limitations of the research and prospect of future research included.