The Study On Translation Of Mian Nu Jiao-Memories Of The Past At Red Cliff Based On House’s Translation Quality Assessment Model

Translation quality assessment (TQA for short) is to evaluate the activity, process, results and influences of translation in accordance with certain standards. As the bridge between translation theories and translation practices, TQA is a new field under translation criticism. So far, TQA has been researched by many scholars who have put forward many TQA models, in which Reiss, House and Williams are the most influential. Reiss, who broadened TQA from the level of words and syntax to the level of text, didn’t consider the non-linguistic elements and failed to propose a complete model. Williams proposed a TQA model based on Argumentation Theory and defined the minimum standards for TQA, but the setting of the parameters is arbitrary to a degree in his model. Based on Hallidayan systemic functional grammar, House’s TQA model is not only qualitative but also quantitative. Therefore, House’s model is much valued and attracts a lot of attention. However, researches on TQA is far from enough, especially in China, most studies in this field merely introduce and analyze the models in the West and still needs further in-depth studies. So this thesis studies the applicability of House’s model on TQA of Song Ci and modifies her model to make it more applicable in assessment of the translation of Song Ci, and thus to contribute some insights into the development of translation criticism.House verified the applicability of her model on children’s reading materials, autobiographies, philosophical essays and history texts when she put forward her model. Thereafter, some other researchers verified its applicability on some other genres, such as advertisement, prose and Tang Poetry. Song Ci is a special genre in Chinese literature, because of its flexible structure, polished language and delicate emotions, so it is should be appreciated by all over the world. But the translation of Song Ci is very difficult because of its unique features. Hence a TQA model is necessary to assess the translation of Song Ci. In brief, the study of applicability of House’s TQA model on Song Ci will not only broaden the scope of applicability of House’s model but also help to improve the translation quality of Song Ci.This thesis uses a case study to verify the applicability of House’s model on the TQA of Song Ci and chooses Su Shi’s Nian Nu Jiao——Memories of the Past at Red Cliff as the research object. In addition, Xu Yuanchong’s and Yang Xianyi and Dai Naidie’s translations are analyzed and compared based on House’s model. According to the analysis and comparison, this thesis comes to the conclusion that House’s TQA model is applicable on TQA of Song Ci due to its scientific parameters and operable procedure. However, because Song Ci is a special genre with many special characteristics, this thesis makes extra analysis under the parameter of genre, to make the assessment more suitable for TQA of Song Ci. What’s more, House’s model is not so clear in statement of the assessing results, so this thesis assigns every parameter and uses hundred mark system to offer a more applicable assessment model in evaluating Song Ci.