On The Translation Of Rhetorical Devices-A Case Study Of The Harry Potter Series

One important issue in translation studies is the translation of rhetorical devices. Rhetorical devices are used frequently in literary works. They can help with creating lively characters, make language vivid, arouse readers' imagination, and strengthen the expressive force of literary works. Therefore, it is very important that these devices in the original texts be handled well in translation. If the translated versions fail to do that, they cannot express the idea, spirit and style of the original works. Even when the basic meaning is conveyed, the power of the original language will be weakened.Recently the Harry Potter books have been extremely popular. Readers of different age groups are attracted to Harry Potter, being amused by the magical world the author has created. Many studies have been carried out to search for the reason behind its success. Most of the studies, however, take the mythological, social, religious or marketing perspectives. Few of them have noticed the use of rhetorical devices. Actually the author used a lot of rhetorical devices in the story such as simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, transferred epithet and so on. Though these devices are very commonly seen, they have played an important role in Harry Potter's success. Without effective use of rhetorical devices, the novel would be rather dull and boring, losing its present glamour and popularity.The Chinese versions of Harry Potter also make a hit on the book market thanks to successful translation. Equivalent translation proposed by Eugene Nida is used as a yardstick in this thesis. The principle of this theory is the effect of the translation on its readers should be the same or close to the effect of the original on its readers. Two Chinese versions of Harry Potter series are studied in this thesis. It shows which version is the more satisfying from the perspective of equivalent translation. Some suggestions on how to translate English rhetorical devices into Chinese are given through this study.