On The Transference Of Rhetorical Style In Translations Of Hong Lou Meng

This thesis intends to get an insight into literary style transference. The main part is a comparative study of the two complete English versions of Hong Long Meng, an encyclopedia of Chinese language and culture. Due to the word limit of this thesis, the discussion will focus on rhetorical devices, an important stylistic marker. In other words, this thesis conducts an analysis of the translation of some rhetorical devices in two English versions of Hong Lou Meng to study literary style transference. Mr. Liu Miqing's Theory of Stylistic Translation provides the theoretical basis for this thesis, and Functionalist Translation Theories serve as the theoretical support for data analysis.This thesis proceeds around the words"function"and"purpose". What are the functions of the rhetorical devices in question? What are the purposes of the author of ST to employ these rhetorical devices? What are the purposes of the translators in adopting certain translation strategies and methods to render these rhetorical devices? How do these strategies and methods fulfill the translators'purpose? By which means can the functions of rhetorical devices be successfully reproduced in the translated versions? All these questions will lead to one question that is whether the functions of the original style can be reproduced in the translated versions so that the translators can communicate with their readers as the way the author of ST with his readers. In essence, it is a question concerning the translatability of style. Taking a dialectical viewpoint, the author holds that both translatability and untranslatability are relative. Therefore, the author also intends to explore how to compensate for the stylistic losses.This thesis consists of six parts. Introduction outlines the content and the researching methods of this thesis. Hong Lou Meng and its English versions are also introduced.Chapter One offers literature review of relevant theories, such as Liu Miqing's Theory of Stylistic Translation, as well as Functionalist Approaches which include Nida's Functional Equivalence Theory, Vermeer's Skopos Theory, and Nord's Function-plus-Loyalty Model. It also reviews some arguments concerning the definitions of style, stylistic markers, the translatability and the untranslatability of style.Chapter Two expounds on the transference of some semantic rhetorical devices in Hong Lou Meng, such as simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, and allusion. The author analyzes the translation methods adopted by the two translators, so as to find out if these rhetorical devices are translatable and what are the most effective means to transfer the original style of these rhetorical devices. The key to this chapter is the different translation strategies adopted by the translators when they deal with allusions.In Chapter Three, the transference of some formal rhetorical devices is discussed, such as couplets, word repetition, and anagram. These rhetorical devices have close relations with the Chinese language form. The author tries to find out if the translators can transfer the rhetorical devices with specific features of the Chinese sentence and character structures, and how they reproduce the original style and artistic effect in the TT.Chapter Four focuses on the translation of phonetic rhetorical devices, such as onomatopoeia, homophone, phonetic malapropism, and parody. These rhetorical devices make use of the specific sound effect of Chinese language. Due to the different phonetic systems of the English and Chinese languages, these rhetorical devices will pose some difficulties for the translators. Therefore, the author intends to discuss whether the translators can create the same or similar artistic effect in the TT, and how they fulfill this goal.Chapter Five presents the conclusion. Through the tentative analysis of the examples, the author concludes that: firstly, the specific translation purpose may lead to different translation strategies and methods. Hawkes'translation strategies are better to convey the original stylistic features and aesthetical effects. Secondly, translatability of style is a matter of degree, which is determined by the differences and similarities between the TL and the SL in terms of linguistic and cultural aspects. The less the difference is, the higher the degree is; the higher the degree is, the easier the translation is. Thirdly, the causes of the stylistic losses in these two English versions may generally fall into two aspects. One is subjective elements, and the other is objective elements. The subjective elements include the translator's lack of stylistic sensitivity and the translator's deliberately ignoring stylistic elements due to his special purpose of translation. The objective cause is the linguistic and cultural differences between the SL and the TL.Due to the fact that all the examples in this thesis are selected randomly from the first eighty chapters of Hong Lou Meng, the study cannot be carried out in a comprehensive way. That determines the limits of this thesis.