A Study Of The Chinese Translation Of Sherlock Holmes

Detective story is a new school of popular fiction of European countries; it focuses onthe description of the happening and the cracking of the criminal cases. What attracts thereaders most is the complicated and alluring plots. It has been nearly200years since the firstdetective story was created by Edgar·Allan· Poe; but it is Sherlock Holmes The CompleteNovels and Stories Volume written by Conan· Doyle that has pushed detective story to thesummit which was translated into many languages as soon as it had been published. At thattime, China was eagerly seeking for a new way to reform and joined in the translation boomwithout any hesitation.This thesis focuses on the different versions of the translation of Sherlock Holmes TheComplete Novels and Stories Volume of different periods in China and analyzes thecharacteristics of the translation of each period respectively.In the late Qing period, the translation of Sherlock Holmes The Complete Novels andStories Volume was first translated into Chinese by Zhang Kunde. Because of the specialsocial environment at that time, the translation was profoundly influenced by the targetlanguage and culture. Most of the translators adopted the strategy of "free translation",amplification, abbreviation, creative translation were widely used at that time. Although thetranslation was not as faithful as those of today, it still made great contribution to Chineseliterature. Chinese translators began to imitate the new mode and created many Chinesedetective stories while translating.During the Period of the May4th, more and more foreign literature had been translatedinto Chinese, the flourishing of the translation activity had also advanced the theories. Thetranslation of Sherlock Holmes The Complete Novels and Stories Volume had been improveda great deal during this period, it was much more faithful compared with that before.Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the heat of the translation ofSherlock Holmes The Complete Novels and Stories Volume has not gone down. More andmore publishers competed with each other to publish different editions of it. The edition published by People’s Publishing House can be called a classic and many other publisherstake it as an basis of their own translation. But with the flourishing of the translation activityand translating theory, the quality of it has not been improved as expected in the new century.That is quite a phenomenon that worth people’s attention.Sherlock Holmes The Complete Novels and Stories Volume has always been loved byreaders since it was translated into Chinese in Late Qing period. It has brought many newnarrating modes and ways to Chinese literature and contributes a lot to the birth of Chinesedetective story; it made indispensable contribution to Chinese modern literature.