The Perspective Of Translation-shifts Theory In The Comparison Of Two Chinese Versions Of Jane Eyre

Content: In order to transfer the meaning of source language to target language asequivalently as possible, translators try to apply various ways of shifts. The reason whythey apply translation shifts is that they have realized the great difference between theEnglish and Chinese languages and sometimes there is no other way but shifts that mayhelp translators translate English works better. So shift is very important in the processof translation and this thesis choose to analyze two Chinese versions of the famousnovel Jane Eyre by adopting Catford’s theory of translation shifts.Jane Eyre (Bronte, C.,1847) has enjoyed huge popularity since its firstpublication, and its success owes much to its exceptionally emotional power. This novelis a kind of fictional autobiography–a great deal of the novel is from the experience ofthe author, for example, her sufferings in Cowan Bridge. In Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronteshows herself a critical realist who attacks the greed, petty tyranny and lack of cultureamong the bourgeoisie and sympathizes with the sufferings of the poor people. Thevalue of this novel may be due to its efforts to blaze a new trail for the development ofhumanism under the faith of religion. Life is ceaselessly changing, but our livingprinciples remain. Firmly persisting for the rights of being independent gives us enoughconfidence and courage. In this era of rapid social and technological change leading toincreasing life complexity and psychological displacement, both physical and mentaleffects on us call for a balance.Although there are many different Chinese versions of the famous novel Jane Eyre,few scholars attempt to do their research with the aid of the theory of translation shifts.So with the aim of finding out which Chinese version of Jane Eyre can better conveythe meaning of the source language, the author of this thesis choose to analyze thedifferent shifts translators apply in due course of translation. As we know, Catford’stheory of translation shifts has brought profound influence on translation studies. By“shifts”, Catford defines them as “departures from formal correspondence in the processof going from the source language to the target language”. His works and theories havepractical significance. Before that, the teaching of translation mainly includes someempirical rules and methods while his theory offers a clear and operational approach intranslation and the evaluation of translation. Catford provides a detailed and systematicelaboration of the following concept: literal and free translation, word for wordtranslation, full and partial translation, total and restricted translation, as well as rank-bound translation and unbounded translation, etc. He also sets up objective criteriafor some formerly subjective judgments. Thus a relatively scientific system oftranslation studies comes into being which has some effect on traditional translation inChina. He also explains the feasibility of equivalence and translation shifts and pointsout the core statues of equivalence in translation studies. His comprehensiveclassification of shifts explains the actual conversion in the course of E-C and C-Etranslation.The purpose of the thesis is to study the different versions of Jane Eyre applyingCatford’s theory of translation shifts as well as his concept of rank, scale and level. Bycomparing the different approaches the two translators adopt translation shifts in theirliterary works and calculating the different kinds of shifts used, we can find out theinfluence of translation shifts on the characteristics of the two versions. We can alsobenefit from the skills they adopt in translation.