Comparative Study Of The Two Chinese Versions Of Moment In Peking From Chesterman’’s Translation Norm Theory

Traditional translation studies focus primarily on the pragmatic levels of the translations, paying too much attention to issues like “loyalty” and linguistic “equivalence”. Descriptive Translation Studies in 1970 s provide new perspectives for translation studies, among which translation norm theory represented by Toury, Chesterman and Hermans is of great significance. Since translation activity is a norm-governed process, norms influence not only language abilities of translators, but also translators’ decision-making process and strategy-adopting process. Based on Chesterman’s translation norm theory, this thesis attempt to complete a descriptive study of the two translation versions of Moment in Peking---Zhang Zhenyu’s Jing Hua Yan Yun and Yu Fei’s Shun Xi Jing Hua, rather than making a critical assessment of their translation qualities. It tries to analyze how and to what extent Chesterman’s norms---expectancy norms, accountability norms, communication norms and relation norms affect their translations. After a comprehensive study of the two translation versions, the author assumes that: 1) norms cover social, cultural and political factors, which affect the translation activity in a macro level, and influence the evaluation of translated works and translation teaching and training; 2) Though translators conform to norms in most circumstances, the subjectivity of translator makes it possible for them to adopt different translation strategies. The author hope that the comparative analysis of the two Chinese versions can provide a new angle for the study of Moment in Peking and help to understand the characteristics of translation activities in particular situation and background.