The Representation Of Aesthetic Functions Of Dialect Dialogue In E-C Trartslation From The Perspective Of Reception Aesthetics

As one of the controversial issues in the field of translation, the researches on dialect translation mainly circles around dialect translation methods based on subjective judgments. Though a plenty of scholars mention in their papers the importance of dialect’s "function" in dialect translation, the representation of aesthetic function of dialect fails to acquire deserved attention in translation studies. What’s more, paper with special, profound and comprehensive exploration over this issue still remains vacant. In an attempt to initiate some contributive inspiration to the settlement of this issue and demonstrate the powerfulness of and inspiration brought by the research approach "representation of aesthetic function", a tentative study over this issue will be conducted in this dissertation purely in descriptive methodology (to make sure its objectivity). This paper attempts to provide and demonstrate the feasibility of the interpretation mode for the translation choice of different translators formed under the guidance of Reception Aesthetics through a detailed analysis and comparison to the factors manipulating the varied translation methods of the two translators, based on a summarization and analysis over the methods employed in the target texts by Zhang Wanli and Cheng Shi (two best-selling target texts) for the representation of aesthetic functions of dialect dialogue with the support of classical examples in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (the most outstanding and typical text studied for the most times for dialect translation).Mark Twain’s classic work——The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is taken as the study material for this dissertation in virtue of research methods like comparative analysis, exemplification, induction, data stat, literature summarization and etc. The first chapter makes a general introduction to the research background, research questions and purposes, significance of this research, research methodology and structure of this research. The second chapter reviews the previous research on dialect translation, application of Reception Aesthetics in literary translation, and the translation of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Based on the author’s terse summarization about the research achievement of previous scholars and careful reflection on the research status home and abroad about the above topics, the deficiency of and argumentations about researches on these topics are concluded, which gives hint to the research topic of this dissertation, demonstrating the necessity and significance of this dissertation. In the third chapter, an introduction to the theoretical background of this dissertation is conducted, in which dialect is introduced; definition and importance of dialogue in fiction are illustrated; the definition of horizon of expectations, classification of horizon of expectations (In this part, the author creatively puts forward two concepts:"national public horizon of expectations" and "universal public horizon of expectations" to meet with the research requirement in this dissertation based on Zhu Liyuan’s theory), attributes of horizon of expectations,"the embodiment of indeterminacies and blanks","implied reader","translator’s horizon of expectations", the translator’s psychological schema during the translation process are presented. The main body of this dissertation consists of chapter four and chapter five that are closely related with each other in a logical way with the former paving the way for the latter. In chapter four, the exploration over the representation of aesthetic function of dialect dialogue is conducted from the following five aspects based on the two most popular translation versions of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Zhang Wanli and Cheng Shi that are chosen as the research objects being rendered a rather comprehensive analysis about the typical examples extracted from the ST:(1) Characterization;(2) Presentation of the beauty of plainness, vividness, and richness of language;(3) Presentation of the cultural connotation;(4) Presentation of the defamiliarization aesthetic effect;(5) Evocation of readers’emotion. Subsequently, a summarization to the representation methods employed by the two translators is presented. Ultimately, in chapter five, the research is oriented to the analysis over the comparison of factors giving rise to varied translation methods of the two translators through the interpretation mode established in chapter three from two major aspects:national public horizon of expectations, translator’s horizon of expectations. Naturally, the feasibility of this interpretation mode is demonstrated during the analysis process in chapter five at the same time.In the light of meticulous and elaborate analysis and demonstration in this dissertation, the following major conclusions can be achieved:(1) On the basis of the translation methods applied in the two translation versions, it can be observed that methods like statement label designator, exaggerative expression, annotation and colloquial expressions are four efficient methods for the representation of aesthetic function of the dialect dialogue.(2) Cheng Shi does better than Zhang Wanli in the representation of aesthetic functions of the dialect dialogue in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through much more diversified methods with Zhang dominantly adopting methods like colloquial expressions, domestication strategy, and statement label designator while Cheng chiefly applying homonyms, foreignization strategy, imitation of child’tone, Er-Hua finals, ample annotations, statement label designator, simple short sentence, exaggerative expression, and simple vocabulary repetition.(3) Zhang Wanli’s translation is dominantly manipulated by the political ideology at that era, attaching importance to the ideological implication and theme of the fiction. Whereas, Cheng Shi’s version is dominantly influenced by readers’ horizon of expectations at his times, laying emphasis on meeting the horizon of expectations of his main target readers——children’s horizon of expectations.(4) The aesthetic functions of the dialect dialogue are implied in every detail of it being the result of the meditation of the writer such as the distinctive features and implied meaning of speeches in varied contexts and from varied characters, demanding reader’s and translator’s embodiment with their affluent, fabulous imagination and comprehension capacity.(5) During the comprehension process of the ST of the translator, the translation resource and the dominant ideology will exert remarkable influence on the fusion of horizon between the reader and TT.(6) Reception Aesthetics can provide an inspirational interpretation mode for the translation choices by translator which could be analyzed from the perspective of "reader", combining the two subjectivities——translator and reader, for the analysis of reasons leading to varied translation choices of different translators.(7) The translation choice interpretation mode can be separated into two parts:national public horizon of expectations, translator’s horizon of expectations. National public horizon of expectations in the "pre-structure" part consists of factors:education level, literary quality level; value system, the dominant ideology, and dominant poetics and aesthetic requirement in the "expectation" part; Translator’s horizon of expectations comprises factors:life experience, education background, language ability; cultural attitude, attitude to the ST, and translation resource.(8) Representation of aesthetic function can be an inspirational research approach to dialect translation.