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Faithfulness, Fluency And Vividness

Posted on:2005-03-17Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:J L ZhangFull Text:PDF
GTID:2155360122986877Subject:English Language and Literature
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Translation norms were put forward by Gideon Toury, a prominent translation theorist in the world. It holds: Translation is a kind of activity which inevitably involves at least two languages and two cultural traditions, i.e. at least two sets of norm-systems on each level. The basic choice made by a translator between requirements of the two different languages and cultures was regarded as constituting an initial norm. Thus, a translator may subject him/herself either to the norms relevant to the source context or to the norms active in the target context. In a word, whereas adherence to source norms determines the adequacy of a translation, subscription to norms originating in the target context determines its acceptability. Ethan Frome was written by Edith wharton, an American woman novelist and translated by Lv Shuxiang, a famous Chinese linguist and translator. It is because Lv Shuxiang chose to abide by target norm-systems in translation that his version has long enjoyed great popularity. Furthermore, Mr. Lv is expert both in English and Chinese, which makes his version fluent, vivid and faithful both to the original meaning and to the original style as well. Based on Toury's translation norms, this study makes a comment on Ethan Frome translated by Lv Shuxiang from a perspective of English-Chinese comparison. As is shown in the comment, what impresses the readers most is that Lv Shuxiang is so proficient in the Chinese language that he is able to cope with it skillfully. In the end, it is concluded that a translator should not only understand the original works thoroughly but also express just right for the purpose or occasion in target language. As far as translation from foreign languages to Chinese is concerned, it is required that a translator must have a solid mastery of Chinese language and the keen sense of his mother tongue. The conclusion in the paper is significant both to translation studies and translation teaching. It is necessary to enhance the study in Chinese language itself and deepen the English-Chinese comparative studies while introducing foreign translation theories to guide translation from foreign languages to Chinese. And what's more, whether a student is well acquainted with his mother tongue or not is vital to becoming a qualified translator. Therefore, much importance should be attached to fostering the students' ability to handle Chinese language with ease in translation teaching.
Keywords/Search Tags:translation norms, English-Chinese comparison, faithfulness, fluency, vividness
PDF Full Text Request
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