On Translator's Style In Literary Translation

Literary style refers to the distinctive features resulting from the linguistic choices made from a repertoire of a particular language by the author under the constraint of both static and dynamic factors. It is characterized by subjective and individual traits, In a sense, the style of a work of literature is jointly produced by both the author and the reader. Failing to realize this point, we can hardly grasp the essential connotations of literary style.The reproduction of the original style in the target language (TL) is one of the most sensitive and complicated problems in literary translation. Modern translation theories show that there are many scholars who have devoted themselves to the study of translation equivalences. However, whether the translator can produce a TT (target text) that is equivalent to the ST (source text), especially in terms of style is still open to question.In light of traditional linguistics-oriented translation theories, a translator should make the utmost effort to retain both the original content and style in the TT. The formation of the style of the TT must rely on the style of the ST. Nevertheless, the translator does not perform his task in a vacuum. Conditioned by various factors, the translator will consciously or unconsciously make his own style visible in the TT; therefore, the style of the TT cannot be identical with the style of the ST, and the translator can only make the style of the TT close to that of the ST as possible as he can.Before translation studies took the "cultural turn", translation scholars tended to focus their attention merely on problems on the linguistic level. However, the creative role played by the translator did not attract enough attention from them. In recent years, translation studies has been greatly enriched by the latest development, and it has undergone dramatic changes. Translation scholars began to shift the focus of their study from STs to TTs. When studying TTs, they began to adopt descriptive approaches.Furthermore, the status of both the translator and the translated literature has been greatly elevated. The creative role played by the translator in the process of translation began to attract more and more attention. Since translation studies officially took the "cultural turn" in 1990s, translating act has been put into a large cultural and historical context by the Manipulation School; therefore, translation studies has been organically combined with cultural studies. The latter can provide new paradigms for the former, and it can shed some new light on the study of the translator's style.Approaching the translator's style from a cultural perspective, specifically speaking, by studying the translator's style in connection with the three factors, namely, ideology, poetics, patronage, as well as other factors that condition the translator's style, this thesis aims at demonstrating that the translator's style is always present in translated texts even if it is not directly recoverable, and the style of the TT is generally a combination of the original style and the translator's style. This thesis is divided into four chapters besides introduction and conclusion.The introduction briefs the theme and structure of the thesis.Chapter One is a general survey of literary style. In this chapter, the author analyzes some typical definitions of style and discusses the connotations of authorial style so as to put the later discussion on a firm basis.Chapter Two deals with translatability of literary style. In this part, the author discusses the notion of "stylistic equivalence", and makes it clear that there exist great difficulties in fully and accurately representing the original style in the TT. Consequently, the author points out the fact that the translator's style does exist in TTs.Chapter Three provides some theoretical bases for the existence of the translator's style and illustrates its visibility.Chapter Four discusses the relation between the translator's style and the original style.The conclusion sums up what has been discussed.