A Comparison Of Information Structure In English And Chinese Based On The Translation Of Freedom

During the translation of Freedom, a novel written by Jonathan Franzen, a greatAmerican novelist, the translator finds that it is hard to translate long Englishsentences into Chinese, and sometimes simple English sentences, though adeqautelycomprehensible, cannot be properly translated. The translator resorted to the theory ofinformation structure, and found that the above-mentioned problems can be solvedwith reference to that theory. The theme-rheme theory and the thematic progressionpattern can be used both in short sentence translation and long sentence translation.However, in the long sentence translation, special attention must be paid to thedifferences in expressions between English and Chinese. Linear translation methodand reversed translation method should be combined to make the translation textconform to the expression in Chinese. By analyzing the examples in the translation ofFreedom, the translator has made the following conclusion: since both similarities anddifferences exist between English and Chinese in information structure, translatorsshould try to retain the information structure of the source language, but make someadjustments when required, to ensure the completeness and coherence of thetranslation text.