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A Study Of Translator's Reception And Generation Of The Target Text In Children's Literature Translating

Posted on:2011-08-07Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:Q H LeiFull Text:PDF
GTID:2155330338977298Subject:English Language and Literature
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Literature is a science about human beings and children's literature is the science about human beings at the very young age. Children's literature has great influence on the development and advancement of human beings with its vivid characters, twisting plot, facetious and humorous language, children's innocence and disposition. So it is with children's literature translation, which has drawn more and more attention from scholars because of its great influence on the development of both children and children's literature creation. It has also displayed a sign of prosperity and vitality recently, especially coming into the 21st century. However, compared to studies in other fields and translation studies of children's literature in the West, children's literature translation in China is far behind. In view of this, the thesis is intended to make a tentative study on children's literature translation process from translator's reception to generation of the target text based on Reception Aesthetics through analyzing a great number of examples selected from Chinese versions of Harry Potter series (except the third one) translated by sisiters Ma Ainong and Ma Aixin.Translator's reception in children's literature translation is neither a passive reception from the source text to the target one, nor an absolute subjective creation, but a fusion of different horizons, in which the translator strives to dialogue with the author and the child reader to close to each other mentally. And the generation of the target text is neither a simple imitation or rewriting, nor an arbitrary recreation, but the active representation of the translator's new"horizon of expectation"in the target language. Thus, children's literature translation is indeed a process of comprehension and expression. Specifically, the translator first reads and apprehends the source text thoroughly, including its language information and the author's horizons hidden in the text, trying to get a better and overall understanding of the source text, and then restructuring his unique aesthetic experience and forming a new"horizon of expectation"based on his old expectations, finally representing this new expectation in another language.On the basis of exploration of Reception Aesthetics and a detailed analysis of the examples, the thesis mainly probes into the true meaning of translator's reception and generation of the target text in children's literature translating, revealing many factors which interfere in the translation process and their interactions, then proposing a basic model of children's literature translating in the light of the characteristics of children's literature. Finally, several conclusions are made in the thesis:First, children's literature translating is a complex and difficult activity. The uniqueness of the child reader, the difference between the translator and the child reader, the characteristics of children's literature and the translator's ability, etc. all contribute to and determine the generation of the translation. Second, translator's reception is a dynamic process which begins with the reception of language items, then to the author's intention and runs through several phrases: from the part to the overall, concrete to abstract, static text to the author's"horizon of expectations". The meaning structure,"indeterminacy and vacancy"of the text as well as diversified expectations increase the difficulty of children's literature translating.Third, a series of mental activities like translator's full play of his subjective dynamics, caring about the reader's"horizon of expectations", creating the"appeal structure", restructuring the new"horizon of expectation", etc. form the process from translator's reception to the generation of the target text in children's literature translating.Fourth, it is crucial to pay attention to the child reader's"horizon of expectations", comprehend the plot and the theme as a whole and reproduce the children's disposition actively in children's literature translating.Finally, the thesis points out the flexibility and the applicability of Reception Aesthetics in children's literature translation studies, at the same time, the thesis further proves the theoretical significance and practical value of Reception Aesthetics. Some suggestions and limitations of the study are also put forward in the thesis.
Keywords/Search Tags:Children's literature translation, translator's reception, generation of the target text, horizon of expectations, fusion of horizons
PDF Full Text Request
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