Thematic Progression: A Means Of Achieving Textual Cohesion And Coherence In Chinese-English Translation-A Comparison Of Three English Versions Of Moonlight Over The Lotus Pond

Cohesion and coherence are two basic properties of a text. Since translation is a process realized on texts, but not on words or phrases, the final product of translation should also have its textual cohesion and semantic coherence. However, due to different grammatical systems between English and Chinese, the selection of cohesive devices and realization of semantic coherence are different, which means translators need to reestablish cohesion and coherence in the target text in some cases. As a structural cohesive device, thematic progression is an important way to realize cohesion and semantic coherence of text as it arranges themes and rhemes of clauses as well as information elements in sequence, making clauses integrated into a structural whole and information flow fluent. On the basis of previous studies on thematic progression and under the guidance of thematic progression, the author carries out a comparative study of thematic progression patterns of the three English versions of Zhu Ziqing's Moonlight over the Lotus Pond. This research reveals how thematic progression makes clause of text correlated with each other, and in different thematic progression patterns, how cohesion is achieved and how semantic coherence is realized on the basis of structural cohesion. This research is expected to provide a guide for translators to achieve textual cohesion and coherence of target text in Chinese-English translation.