A Report On Translation Of Dialogues In Aquarium

In the process of cultural exchange and fusion, the translation of literary works plays a vital role. Novels, together with their unique dialogues, send out boundless charm among all kinds of literary works. With great interest in novels, the author translates Aquarium-a latest English novel written by American famous writer David Vann, and then concentrates on the translation of dialogues appeared in this novel to write this translation report.Full preparation has been made to fulfill the translation task. After thoroughly reading the original text, the author refers to a large number of materials on the writer and writing background. Since this report focuses on translation of dialogues in Aquarium that make up one-third of the whole novel, it is essential to carefully study the features and functions of dialogues in novel, which lays a solid foundation for the translation task afterwards. It is concluded in this report that dialogues in novel are featured with oralization, conciseness and coherence, and they can depict the character, advance the story and interest the readers. Besides, the author strictly controls the process of translation, keeping in mind the requirements on comprehension and expression during translation, and then proofreads and modifies the translated version again and again to ensure good completion of the translation practice by allocating time appropriately.Professor Huang Fenbao has put forward that the peculiarity of the individual speaker should be reproduced to achieve "three agreements" during translation. Namely, the translator ought to make sure that the tone of the speaker in the target language agrees with the status and the temperament of the speaker in the original text and with the peculiar situation concerned. Based on this theory, this translation report discusses the translation method of dialogues in novel by analyzing some relevant examples existing in the selected text. With detailed comparison and analysis of the original and translated dialogues from Chapter 14 to Chapter 17 in Aquarium, the author concludes that the "three agreements" can be effectively achieved by translation adjustments such as addition of key-information phrases, omission of personal pronouns, adoption of equivalent cursing words, employment of equivalent slang, combination of short sentences and division of compound sentences. If these translation skills can be used flexibly and properly, the translated version can be more complete, coherent and readable. Finally, it is expected that the research for translation of dialogues in the novel Aquarium will be of certain significance for the same kind of translation practice in the future.