Variation Theory’s Application And Effects In The Chinese Versions Of Sherlock Holmes For Adolescents

The Translation Variation Theory was put forward by Chinese scholar HuangZhonglian at the turn of the21stcentury. Since this theory is convincing for explainingthe variations in translation, investigating its application in the versions where manytranslation variations are adopted is expected to verify the actual acceptance of theseversions. Under the theory, this paper demonstrates the translation variation methodsapplied in two Chinese translations of Sherlock Holmes for adolescents publishedrespectively by Zhejiang University Press in2010and Hubei Fine Arts PublishingCompany in2012, and discusses the variation effects.This research aims to promote the understanding of translation variations inChinese versions of Sherlock Holmes for adolescents, and explore the variation effectson adolescent readers.The hypothesis of this thesis is that translation variations exist in both Chineseversions of Sherlock Holmes for adolescents. Based on the hypothesis, two questionsare to be answered. The first question is what translation variation methods areadopted if translation variations exist in both versions. As translators’ purpose ofusing translation variations is to meet the specific needs of adolescent readers, thesecond question to be answered is whether the translation works have achieved theexpected effects on adolescents.The thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter One is a brief introduction of thebackground, purpose, significance and questions of the research. Chapter Two is theliterature review in which studies on adult and adolescent versions of SherlockHolmes are summarized. Chapter Three deals with the Translation Variation Theoryfocusing on its variation devices, translation variation methods and variation effects.In Chapter Four, the existence of variations in both adolescent versions is verified,which is followed by the analysis of the translation variation methods and the adaption advices used in the examples found during the comparative study of theoriginal work and Chinese versions for adolescents. Chapter Five investigates whetherthe translation variations can positively affect adolescent readers in aspects of mentalhealth, acquisition of common knowledge in law and reflections on life, andimproving their writing skills. Chapter Six summarizes the major findings andpresents the limitations of this research and suggestions for further research.This thesis comes to the conclusion that variations made with a definite purposeexist in both Chinese versions of Sherlock Holmes for adolescents. The translationvariation methods mainly applied in both versions are selective translation, editedtranslation, contraction, and translation and writing. And edited translation andexplanatory translation are also found in either one version or the other. Thesevariations in both versions have positive effects on Chinese adolescent readersalthough they have some limitations, and therefore the existence of variation versionsis a necessity in a historical period. Some variations in both versions help adolescentreaders in mental growth, improving their writing skills and acquisition of commonknowledge in law and reflections on life.