A Stylistic Approach To Fictional Translation

Though considered as being in relation to each other, literary stylistics and literary translation have rarely been taken into the actual translating process simultaneously. The employment of common techniques by translators in translating is through their intuitive knowledge of the stylistic features of the literary work s/he is working on. This is particularly true of the translation of fiction, which is lacking in (subtle) stylistic devices. Furthermore, stylistic study still has a long way to go before meeting our satisfaction in terms of translation studies. To bring studies of literary translation up to date and to improve, as a result, the quality and standard of literary translating, it is highly necessary to replace traditional impressionistic approaches by more precise and more penetrating stylistic models and methods. This thesis tries to explicate the stylistic approach to the translation of fiction, and make a case study of its applicability. Synchronously, the author ventures to put forward five principles for fictional translation, that is, correspondence, contextual consistency, deviation, intention, and intertextuality. Finally the thesis attempts to make a detailed comparison from the stylistic perspective among the three Chinese versions of Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen. The macro- and micro-study of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice are both carried out carefully and comprehensively.