The Translation Of Dialogue In Novels From The Perspective Of Register Theory

Dialogue is an integral part of most novels. It can help model the characters, develop the plot and reveal the themes of novels, moreover, it is conducive to attracting readers. It also reflects the aesthetic beauty and styles of the novelists. Therefore, the translation of dialogues deserves the translators’attention.This paper takes The Metro, by Josef Essberger, as an instance for study by selecting dialogues of typical characters. From the perspective of register, the paper analyzes how to comply with the field and tenor of the original work and how to recreate the characters and scenes of dialogues vividly, and argues that register study can be adopted as an effective instrument in translating dialogues in novels. The paper generally falls into four parts.The first part introduces The Metro, its language features and style, then analyzes the functions of dialogues in novels and showcases some research findings on the dialogue translation in novels.The second part gives a brief introduction to register theory and analyzes the application of register theory in the translation of dialogues.The third part is the case study under the guidance of register theory, which is the most important part of the paper.The final part presents the conclusion that a deep understanding of field and tenor of the original work will help translators achieve a better comprehension of the dialogues and the reappearance of the characters and scenes in which the dialogues occur, so as to guarantee the quality of the translation of dialogues.