A Study Of The English Translation Of Sandalwood Death Under Eco-translatology

Sandalwood Death is a masterpiece written by Mo Yan, our Nobel Prize winner.Since its publication in 2008, it has triggered heated discussions in the Chinese literary circle. The English version, which translated by the American sinologist Howard Goldblatt, has received positive responses and become a hot topic for research. So far, the studies mainly focus on the writer, the narrative features and the esthetic effect of the Chinese version while due attention hasn't been paid to Goldblatt and his English version. Eco-translatology provides the theoretical support for the further study of the English version of Sandalwood Death. The Eco-translatology was first put forward by Hu Gengshen in 2001, which is a product of interdisciplinary study combining ecology and translatology effectively so as to reveal the essence of translation. This theory considers translator as the center, and views the translation process as the translator's adaptation and selection in the translational eco-environment. In this thesis, the Eco-translatology is selected as the theoretical means to analyze Sandalwood Death.Under the guidance of Eco-translatology, the thesis introduces the original text,the writer, the translation, the translator and the translational eco-environment. The theory of multi-dimensional transformation is mainly used to analyze how Goldblatt makes adaptation and selection in translation. In the linguistic dimension, Goldblatt retains the rhythmic beauty of Maoqiang and reproduces the heroic esthetic style of Gaomi dialect. In the cultural dimension, Goldblatt reserves a good deal of cultural images of the original text. In the communicative dimension, the translator chooses appropriate wording to embody the personality of the main characters. In order to popularize Chinese culture, Goldblatt retains the language style to achieve the best holistic degree of adaptation and selection.The thesis aims to analyze the translated version of Sandalwood Death with the method of Eco-translatology, so as to reflect the process of translator's adaptation and selection, thus confirming the feasibility of Eco-translatology. In the meantime, it aims to raise the attention to Goldblatt's work and his translation style as well as give inspiration for introducing Chinese literature to a broader range.