Introspective Translation Research Report Of The First Chapter In The Elusive Flame

What are the criteria of literature translation? This problem has already been talkedabout for a long time. Some people think that free translation is the better method totranslate literature text. However, some people think literal translation is the better way.How to translate literature works? Choosing literal translation or free translation totranslate literature works? These are the main notions which will be analyzed in this thesis.This thesis is a reflective research reporter based on the translating of the first chapterof the English novel—The Elusive Flame. It mainly analyzes the application of freetranslation and literal translation in the literature translation. Through the research ontranslating process of the first chapter of this novel, I sum up: in English-to-Chinesetranslation the English simple sentence which is similar with Chinese sentence on thestructure and grammar should be translated with literal translation; the metaphor and similewhich is similar to the Chinese language habit can be translated with literal translation,otherwise using free translation. In a word, both literal translation and free translation havetheir own advantages and disadvantages. Therefore the translator should use literaltranslation and free translation reasonable, rather than only advocating one method of them.The translator should choose these two methods flexibly.This thesis is divided into five parts. The first part briefly introduces the whole thesis.The first and second chapters are an introduction of original text and translating process.The third chapter is the main chapter of this thesis, and it is the concrete analysis of theproblems which I face in the translating process. The final part is the conclusion.