The "Approach To Translation As Adaptation And Selection"-An Examination And A Case Study

Translation theories in the past half century have developed significantly, and translation researchers are beginning to pay more and more attention to assimilating nutriment from other relevant scientific theories. The combination and association of theories from different fields facilitate the establishment and construction of translatology. At the same time, the selection of translation strategies and criterion for translation criticism are always considered as main issues in translation studies. Translators have to constantly make choices between alternatives: form or meaning, source culture or target culture, writer's intention or readers' expectation, etc. These selections happen in the process of translating and will eventually influence the final product of translation activities. Under such a complexity of translation studies, Hu Gengshen introduces Darwin's "adaptation/selection" in evolutionism into translation studies, and proposes a theory that approaches translation as adaptation and selection, hoping to reexamine translation from a new perspective and truly reflect translation practice.According to Hu, translation is described as a translator's adaptation and selection activities in a translational eco-environment. Such an eco-environment includes the worlds of the source text and the source/target languages, the linguistic, communicative, cultural and social aspects of translating, as well as the author, the client, and the readers (Hu, 2004: 219). Within the theoretical framework of the theory, the process of translating is a production of target text through "natural selection" by means of translator's adaptation to the eco-environment and the translator's selection of both the degree of the adaptation and decisions about the form of the final target text in terms of the Darwinian principle of natural selection. Professor Hu believes that his theory can highlight the adaptation and selection aspects of translational activities and hopefully add new dimensions to translation studies.Some researchers have already noticed the new theory, such as Xu Jun, Li Yashu, and Song Zhiping, etc. They viewed the theory as an original theoretical construction, and a concise and creative work. There were also papers published, trying to use the theory to explain the translation of Lunyu, Evolution and Ethics, etc. However, the application of the theory so far is still limited, and its feasibility and explanatory force need further and more detailed testification. This is the reason why the author of the present thesis chooses to employ Hu's theory as a theoretical framework, to analyze two Chinese versions of Pride and Prejudice, translated by Wang Keyi and Sun Zhili.After giving an explanation of relevant methods, the author makes an introduction of the emergence of the approach to translation as adaptation and selection, its theoretical feasibility and current conditions of research, as well as the previous research on Pride and Prejudice and the existing Chinese versions. A major chapter of the thesis is devoted to the exposition of Hu's theory, including the philosophical basis, the process, method, and an evaluation criterion under the theory. But the main part of the thesis consists of a process examination of Wang and Sun's translations of Pride and Prejudice, which is analyzed into three stages: adaptations before the translators sit down to translate, selections during the practical translating process, and evaluation received after the translations are finished. By recognizing and locating the instances of adaptations and selections made by the two translators in the three stages, the author tries to test the applicability and viability of Hu's theory, with the help of supporting examples from the two successful Chinese versions of Pride and Prejudice.In conclusion, in the limited space of this thesis, the analysis of Wang and Sun's Chinese versions of Pride and Prejudice have tentatively proved the feasibility, applicability, and explanatory force of the theory on translation practice. Professor Hu Gengshen's approach to translation as adaptation and selection has provided researchers with a new perspective and broader space for translation studies, especially for Chinese translation studies.