A Study Of Translator's Notes In Literary Translation

Translator's note appears quite frequently and sometimes in a large number in translated texts. In both China and the West, translator's annotation is a historic practice. However, up till now, there is not a unanimously accepted principle governing the practice of it; translators tend to be free in choosing whether to make a note, when to make it and how to make it. Besides, discussions on whether it is necessary to add a translator's note in literary translation never stop. The reason behind is there is no systematic and in-depth research on the issue of translator's note in literary translation.For this reason, this thesis tries to make a thorough analysis of translator's notes. In addition to an introduction, a literature review and a brief conclusion, the thesis is divided into three sections.Section 1 (Chapter 3) is an analysis of concepts. After comparing and analyzing the various terms employed by scholars at home and abroad on the issue of notes made by translators, the author holds that a unified term should be adopted for further study of the issue and proposes to employ"translator's notes"as the special term. To clarify the scope of this term, the author makes an in-depth analysis of the concept of this term. Based on this analysis, the author puts forward four classifications of translator's notes according to four different standards, namely classification by place, by scope of knowledge, by nature of annotated item, and by function. By place, translator's notes can be grouped into detached notes and non-detached notes; by scope of knowledge, brief notes and detailed notes; by nature of annotated item, linguistic notes, cultural notes and textural notes; and by function, notes to facilitate reading, notes to supply knowledge and notes to express opinions.Section 2 (Chapter 4) interprets several unique phenomena concerning translator's notes. Firstly, applying functionalist translation theory, the author makes an interpretation of two phenomena, one being the difference of the number of translator's notes in different translation versions of a same original text, and the other being the deleting of translator's notes in The Analects. Then the author interprets the...