Rethinking Leuven Zwart’s Translation Shift Theory

Leuven Zwart, the professor of literature and translation studies in University ofAmsterdam has put forward the translation shift theory respectively in her two articles,Translation and Original: Similarities and Dissimilarities, I (1989) and Translation andOriginal: Similarities and Dissimilarities, II (1990), in which, through comparing the sourcetext and the target text, she points out the types of translation shifts on the micro-linguisticlevel and their influence on the macro-structural level, and summarizes the general translationmethods, thus promoting the development of translation shift studies greatly. In comparisonwith the previous translation shift studies, her theory is acknowledged as the most systematicand comprehensive shift theory. At present, as the study on Zwart’s translation shift theory inChina is just in its initial stage, further exploration on it is still needed. This thesis, on thebasis of the previous studies on Zwart, intends to present the whole picture of Zwart’stranslation shift theory.The thesis firstly makes a detailed introduction to the comparative model and thedescriptive model that composes Zwart’s translation shift theory. In the following chapter,through a comparative analysis, using an empirical approach and the method of induction anddeduction, the author makes a comparison and contrast between her theory and other shifttheories so as to reveal their similarities and differences. The third chapter summarizes themerits and limitations of Zwart’s theory based on the analysis made in the foregoing chapter.The conclusion is drawn that: first, Zwart’s theory established on stylistics and narratologydescribes the different types of translation shift on the micro-structural level of the languageand indicates their influence on the macro-structural level of the language; second, applyingZwart’s theory to observe the phenomenon which occurs in translation shifts between thesource text and the target text can reveal the features and characteristics of the sourcelanguage and the target language; third, as a model for translation evaluation, Zwart’s theorypossesses an explanatory power in evaluating translated works. However, every theory is farfrom perfection and Zwart’s theory is no exception. It is also flawed by some limitations, such as higher requirement imposed on the length of narrative novels to be analyzed, higherlevel of difficulty in determining the architranseme in practice, and the ignorance ofgraphically-capitalized shifts in the comparative model. Despite of these limitations, Zwart’stheory tremendously propels the development of translation shift studies, of which theinfluence and significance is indelible.