Flexible Treatment In Prose Translation

After reading Selected Modern Chinese Essays, Professor Zhang peiji’s "flexibletreatment" in prose translation leaves the author a deep impression. His excellent commandof both Chinese and English makes this possible. This thesis centers on his application of"flexible treatment" in Chinese prose translation.In the beginning, the significance of the thesis is discussed. It states that translationcriticism and the way of comparison are important and helpful for translation learning.The body of the thesis consists of three chapters. The first chapter is the researchbackground of the thesis. In this chapter, the background and features of Chinese modernprose are discussed, as well as the current situation of prose translation and its essences.After the introduction of Zhang Peiji and Selected Modern Chinese Essays, comes theinfluence and importance of the selection.In the second chapter, the author introduce the conception of "flexible treatment" andits principles, emphasizing that it can not be used randomly Moreover, author cites theEugene A.Nida’s theory of dynamic equivalence and Jef. Verschueren’s theory of linguisticadaptation to support the "flexible treatment" adopted by Prof. Zhang.Chapter three is the central part of the whole thesis. The author chooses some typicalexamples from Prof. Zhang’s selection to analyze the application of "flexible treatment" indetail in the aspect of sentence structure and diction. Through the case study, the authorthinks "flexible treatment" in prose translation can better deliver the original’s meanings aswell as its style and spirit. Also, through the comparison with other translators’ version ofthe same source text, Prof. Zhang’s flexibility is appreciated. Of course, any translation hasregrets, Prof. Zhang is not an exception, which is proved by the examples the authorexcerpted form his selection. However, the author emphasizes that the regrets of translationis inevitable.The last part is the conclusion of the thesis. Prof. Zhang’s "flexible treatment" in prosetranslation is affirmed. His Selected Modern Chinese Essays sets a good model andprovides abundant materials for juniors.