A Study Of Howard Goldblatt’s English Version Of Gan Xiao Liu Ji From The Perspective Of Toury’s Norms Theory

Gan Xiao Liu Ji is gains great publicity. It is not only because it was produced in the special and sensitive time, i.e. soon after the well-known Great Cultural Revolution, but also because it is of unusual content and writing style. Yang Jiang, the author of the work, describes the story that the intellectuals of last generation have re-education in a relaxing, humorous and natural tone. Not only does the text involve a touching marriage life, it also describes the sincere friendship between comrades, insistent affection and caring upon motherland and people from people who suffer a lot and so on. Just based on such an artistic appeal, Gan Xiao Liu Ji can be translated into a foreign language immediately after its publication. By using the means of Descriptive Translation Studies, this essay will study Howard Goldblatt’s English version of Gan Xiao Liu Ji from the perspective of Touy’s norms theory.As one of the most prominent representatives of translation norms theory, Gideon Toury initially studies translation norms from the point of translation studies, concentrating on the influences of target language literature, the translation activities and translation products. At the basis of a number of case studies, Toury states clearly that translation is an activity restricted by norms and he classifies three kinds of translation norms:preliminary norms, initial norms and operational norms. All types of social and cultural factors restrict and affect the translation elements, including the selection of the works, the macro translation strategies and methods before the translation starts as well as the translation techniques applied in the translating process. Descriptive Translation Studies originated from the polysystem theory of Tel Aviv University School. The polysystem theory was introduced by Itamar Even-Zohar in the1970s and his young colleague Gideon Toury furthered the polysystem theory and developed it into Descriptive Translation Studies during the1980s and the1990s. This methodology is based on the translation result by regarding it as an established fact. Translation scholars of Descriptive Translation Studies stress social and historical factors that affect the translation process and concern about the function and status of TT in the literature polysystem of TL. And all of these are done from a comprehensive and diachronic viewpoint.This thesis, based on the translation norms of Descriptive Translation Studies, tries to analyze Howard Goldblatt’s English version of Gan Xiao Liu Ji from three perspectives. The thesis consists of five parts. The first part is a brief introduction to the background, motivation, approach and methodology, and significance of the research. In addition, it gives a description of the previous studies of the English versions of Gan Xiao Liu Ji. The second part gives a description of Yang Jiang-the author of the source text and the works that she has created, especially Gan Xiao Liu Ji. Actually like most of her works, Gan Xiao Liu Ji is written in a simple and low-key style and this is part of the reason why it can be spread in the public. In addition, its creation backgrounds as well as its historical facts attract readers deeply. What’s more, a brief introduction to Howard Goldblatt is given. The third part focuses on Toury and his studies, emphasizing on three translation norms. The author of this essay tries to explore the role of Toury’s norms in literary translation, including its guidance and significance. It can make the translator think more about the social and historical background when considering which original text to translate. Also the emphasis on adequacy or acceptance will be influenced. In addition, translation strategies or methods will be affected by the translation norms during the translating process. The fourth part concentrates on the case study-a combination of Toury’s norms and the text Gan Xiao Liu Ji. It analyzes possible reasons for the result of Howard Goldblatt’s translation, including social and historical backgrounds, the marginalized position of Chinese literature and translated Chinese literature in foreign countries and so on. The last part is a brief summary of the whole thesis and it presents some suggestions for future studies.According to the whole study, the English translation of Gan Xiao Liu Ji by Howard Goldblatt is influenced by the three translation norms put forward by Toury. The translator regards the translation of Gan Xiao Liu Ji as an activity which is tightly related with the society, history and culture. Firstly, the selection of Gan Xiao Liuji to translate is due to the fact that it describes the intellectuals who have "re-education" in cadre school during the Great Cultural Revolution, which can attract attention of the target readers. Secondly, the translator attaches more importance to the acceptance of the translation. The reason is that Chinese translation literature takes the inferior position. Finally, the translator tends to choose translation strategies and methods which can be more acceptable.In a word, the results of this study are reasonable to some extent, which can be useful to the related studies in the future. However, the study has its own limitation. To some extent, the combination of the Descriptive Translation Studies and the Prescriptive Translation Studies can be more complete and mature.