Embodiment Of Hallucinatory Realism In The Translation Of Life And Death Are Wearing Me Out

Hallucinatory realism is a kind of writing style which reflects the real world with fantastic and even magical stories.Mo's hallucinatory realism,rooted in the unique Chinese culture and boasting strong local flavors,has drawn great attention from scholars both home and abroad.Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out was published when Mo's writing style was mature enough to show to the greatest extent the charm of hallucinatory realism.Goldblatt's translation came two years later and became a success,resulting in extensive study of his translation techniques.Embodiment is a popular theory in cognitive linguistics,but it has not been introduced to translation field yet.The author holds that this theory should also be considered as an important guiding principle in translation practice as it stresses the decisive effect of bodily experience on cognition and perception.Thus,the study of embodiment of hallucinatory realism in the translation of the novel has both theoretical and practical significance.This thesis,by comparative study of Mo's Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out and Goldblatt's translated version,discusses the following three research questions:First,how does Goldblatt achieve the embodiment of the distinctive writing style of this novel in the translation process?Second,what should be taken into account in embodying the hallucinatory realistic features of this novel?Last,has the distinguished style of Mo been fully reproduced in the translated version,and why?Theoretical framework of this thesis is hallucinatory realism and embodiment theories.It points out the inheriting and developing relations between hallucinatory realism and magic(al)realism,and offers detailed explanation of embodiment theory as well as its important role in translation practice.As to the embodiment of hallucinatory realistic features of this novel,the author specifies in three aspects,i.e.magnification,minification and retainment.Twelve typical examples are chosen and studied based on close and comparative reading of the original novel and its translation.Regarding expressions with less strong English counterparts,Goldblatt adopts magnification,mainly by amplification.Regarding expression with no English counterparts,or whose counterparts have different meanings or the language structure cannot be acceptable to Western readers,Goldblatt adopts minification by reduction or omission.Retainment is adopted when no significant barriers stand in the way of the translation process.Meanwhile,the thesis penetrates into reasons of differences between the two versions,putting forward that translators shall take into account similarities and differences between the two cultures and the bodily experience of both reader groups,give full respect to the original novel and the writer and properly use translator's subjectivity by flexibly choosing translation techniques so as to achieve artistic faithfulness.Goldblatt's translated version of Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out is a perfect example of this translation philosophy.Besides,the author also points out the limitations of this thesis and provides several valuable research topics for further translation studies.