On The English Translation Of Life And Death Are Wearing Me Out From The Perspective Of Gestalt Theory

The spread of Chinese culture needs translation. Translation is the vital medium for the communication between Chinese culture and the world. Mo Yan is the first Nobel laureate among Chinese writers. As a salute to classic Chinese novels, Life And Death Are Wearing Me Out has received good remarks from western readers and reviewers. It wins many international prizes, such as the Dream of Red Chamber Award of 2008 and Inaugural Newman Prize for Chinese Literature in 2009. It has been translated into many foreign languages, like English, Swedish, Japanese, German, French, Italian etc, which has made great contribution to the spread of Chinese literature as well as Chinese culture.Among all the translators of Mo Yan’s works, Howard Goldblatt is the only English translator and the most influential translator. Known as "the chief translator of modern and contemporary Chinese literature", he is a sinologist with great knowledge of Chinese culture. He has published English translation of more than 50 novels by over 30 Chinese writers from China mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, which makes great contribution to the translation of Chinese literature and the spread of Chinese culture. Therefore, Life And Death Are Wearing Me Out qualifies an ideal text of translation studies.This study attempts to probe into the English translation of Life And Death Are Wearing Me Out by Howard Goldblatt, from the perspective of Gestalt theory, aiming at providing theoretical guidance for literature translation, and broadening the application of Gestalt psychology in the field of translation.The study covers six parts. The first part introduces the background, the aim, the significance and the structure of the study. The second part makes a general review of research on Gestalt theory and research on the translation of Life And Death Are Wearing Me Out in China and abroad. The third part introduces the core content of Gestalt theory, as well as its development and application, including Gestalt quality, Gestalt image, Image-G Actualization theory, and Holism and Closure principles of Gestalt theory. The fourth part analyzes the features of the novel Life And Death Are Wearing Me Out and its English translation by Howard Goldblatt, to prove that Gestalt is embodied in this novel and Gestalt theory outbalances other theories on the translation study of this novel. The fifth part probes into the application of the five main laws of Gestalt to the translation of Life And Death Are Wearing Me Out, based on theoretical explanation and exemplification. The sixth part makes a conclusion and review of this whole paper.The conclusions of this paper prove that Gestalt theory, especially its five main laws can be applied to the translation of certain kinds of novels like Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out, to provide theoretical guidance to translators. Gestalt theory provides a new perspective for the translation of novels. Hopefully, this study could be of some value and provide guidance to the further research in this field.