On Directionality Of Translation

Directionality of translation is a rarely researched but one of the most interesting developments in translation studies nowadays. The works that have been done in the field of directionality seem to be focused on the dominating position of direct translation, i.e. translation into a mother tongue, and the dominated position of inverse translation, i.e. translation into a non-mother tongue. The question concerning whether that conviction is well-grounded has aroused some scholars’attention in recent years and requires further researches.Since factors intertwine and mutually affect one another in directionality studies, it is impossible to study the directionality of all kinds of translations in one paper. Directionality of literary translation is chosen as the focus of this paper. This thesis attempts to investigate into directionality, the rarely touched area in translation studies, with the translations of Shen Congwen’s Quiet as a case of illustration.In the present study, a qualitative approach is adopted and case study methods are employed with the two English translations of Quiet selected as the case and Seymour Chatman’s narrative structure theory applied as the method to interpret and analyze the two English texts. It is hoped that through a thorough analysis of the two English texts based on Chatman’s narrative structure theory, this study could obtain a more objective and comprehensive understanding of the two English versions, and contribute to studies on directionality, Shen Congwen and the application of narrative structure theory to translation studies to a certain extent.The major finding through the comparative study of narrative structures of the two English versions of Quiet is that the long-last assumption that direct translation is superior seems to be unconvincing in either translation practice or theory. It is also logically inferred that if the purpose of literary translations is to get target readers of translations more acquainted with domestic classics and culture, the suitability of inverse translation shall not be neglected.