On The Translation Of Fictional Dialogue

The source text, And Devious the Line of Duty, is a science fiction by American writer Tom Godwin. It mainly tells a story that the envoy of Terran Republic Rockford and his assistant Hunter go to attend a negotiation. This negotiation is related to the life and death of Earth. And it also includes the things happened to them and reveals an unexpected end. As a science fiction, although the source text boasts some scientific and technological terms and coinage, its central feature is the usage of a large number of dialogues. Dialogues between characters account for more than half of the fiction. Dialogues, both skillful and concise, can play a significant role in revealing characters, advancing the plot, attracting readers and depicting the objective environment. Therefore, the translation of colloquial expressions is the priority of the fiction translation. How to translate the dialogue accurately and effectively has become a key to the success of the whole translation.In this report, the author refers “ Three Agreements” put forward by professor Huang Fenbao as the translation criterion, namely, “the tone of the speaker in the target language is in agreement with the status and the temperament of the speaker in the original and with the particular situation concerned”. That is to say, in order to ensure the quality of the translation, when translating the dialogue, the translator shall not only be faithful to the meaning of the source text, but also retain the original characteristics of the dialogue by the way of selecting the appropriate target language in accordance with the context.Through the thesis, the author firstly wants to gain more relevant knowledge of dialogue translation. And then by analyzing “ Three Agreements” through case study, the author explains how to keep characters’ personality and manifest the function of fictional dialogue. The author hopes to provide reference for the translation of fictional dialogue.