On The Target Reader Oriented Approach To Literary Translation

As regards literary translation, traditional translation studies always emphasize theimportance of being faithful to the source text. Equivalence is the first standard inevaluating a literary translation. Some scholars even hold that all the features of thesource text should be reserved in the target text. The target text should be equivalentto the source text in every respect, such as content, form, style, function, etc. Theythink that any target text that is not equivalent to the source text in any respect couldnot be called a translation at all. While putting too much emphasis on the source text,the traditional view on literary translation, however, has neglected another even moreimportant role in the process of translation, the target reader.Literary translation cannot live without the target reader. After all, it is to serve thetarget reader. Whether a literary translation is successful or not depends on whether itis accepted by the target reader. No matter what kind of standard one uses inevaluating a translation, he cannot avoid resorting to the reaction of the target reader.Functionalism in translation studies attaches much importance to the role of the targetreader. The functionalists emphasize from different perspectives that the target readeris a very important factor in translation and determines the translation process.Holz-Manttari holds that translation is a kind of interpersonal interaction, involvingthe initiator, the translator, the target reader and etc. The target reader is the one whowill read the target text, so the reader plays a crucial role in the translation process.In his Skopostheorie, Vermeer emphasizes that the purpose of the translationdetermines the translation process, and the target reader, in turn, determines thepurpose. The target text must be coherent with the target reader's situation.Reiss says that before the translation begins, the translator should, first of all, makeclear what kind of function the target text is to serve and who will be the targetaudience. The translator should adjust his translation methods according to the targetreader.For Nord, translation is a kind interpersonal relationship, and the translator should beloyal to the target reader.This thesis compares the two Chinese versions of Pride and Prejudice under theframework of functionalism. It points out that in literary translation, the target readeris a very important factor. A target reader oriented approach should be adopted inliterary translation. In order to represent the aesthetic effect of the source text to thetarget reader and provide them with fun when they read it, the language in the targettext should conform to the language habit of the target reader. A version of awkwardlanguage can hardly represent the aesthetic effect to the target reader.To stress the importance of the target reader is not a denial of the source text. Actually,the two aspects do not conflict each other. A literary translation in which the languageconforms to the language habit of the target reader and is liked by them cansuccessfully represent the artistic effect of the source text.Chapter one of this thesis serves as an introduction. The traditional view on literarytranslation and its neglect of the importance of the target reader is mentioned. Thenthe statement of this thesis is presented, i.e. in literary translation, a target readeroriented approach should be applied and the language in the target text shouldconform to the language habit of the target reader. This chapter also presents thevalidity and research methodology of this thesis. At last, the structure of this thesis isbriefly described.Chapter two is devoted to literature review, introducing several importantfunctionalists, who explain the importance of the target reader in the translationprocess from various perspectives, and the application of functionalism to literarytranslation. At the end, this chapter also gives several examples of the scholars inhistory who once held similar opinions about translation and won great success whenthey applied their principles to their own translations, which adds the forcefulness ofthe argument of this thesis.Chapter three takes functionalism as the theoretical foundation for the comparativestudy of the two Chinese versions of Pride and Prejudice. It is found, throughcomparing the two versions, that generally Sun's version is better in conforming to theChinese readers' language habit and can better serve the Chinese readers. At the endof this chapter, there is an analysis of a questionnaire which is very helpful in showingthat Sun's version which this thesis supports is also liked and supported by otherreaders.Chapter four is the concluding part. Based on the analysis of chapter three, it pointsout that a target reader oriented approach should be applied and the language in thetarget text should conform to the language habit of the target readers. The author atlast points out the limitations of this thesis. She also looks forward to the possiblefuture studies.