“deceptive Equivalence” In Chinese Versions Of Nineteen Eighty-four

The present study is designed to probe into the Chinese translations of Nineteen Eighty-Four,one of the most famous novels of George Orwell who was an outstanding English writers of the first half of the twentieth century.It attempts to explore the existence and causes of “deceptive equivalence” in Chinese versions based on Shen Dan's theory about “deceptive equivalence”in fictional translation from the perspective of literary stylistics.The two Chinese versions of Nineteen Eighty-Four: Dong Leshan's version and Liu Shaoming's version are chiefly examined.Other versions such as Sun Zhongxu's version,Han Yang & Wang Zhe's version are also included as supplement.It attempts to answer the following two research questions: 1.Does “deceptive equivalence” exist in Chinese versions of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four? 2.If it does,what are the forms and causes for this phenomenon?How can it be identified and avoided?The research finds that as a common phenomenon in fictional translation,“deceptive equivalence” also exists in Dong's version and Liu's version and is mainly manifested in three aspects including lexical expression,syntax,and speech and thought presentation.Some typical cases in their versions are illustrated,and cases in other versions are also discussed where “deceptive equivalence” easily appears or where an example is set in how to avoid it.In addition,situations of “deceptive equivalence” in the two versions are different.For instance,the most frequent aspect of “deceptive equivalence” in Liu's version is syntax,but “deceptive equivalence” seldom happens in this aspect in Dong's version.Moreover,the translator normalizes deviant expressions,or alters fictional reality due to emotional involvement,or fails to reproduce literary and aesthetic functions generated by certain syntactic choice and speech and thought presentation,which possibly leads to“deceptive equivalence”.Hence,an adequate realization of the function ofartistically or thematically motivated features and appropriate rendering are crucial to the avoidance of “deceptive equivalence”.Contextualized stylistic devices may be applied in some cases due to language differences between English and Chinese.The research finds that with its precision and objectivity,literary stylistics can help to ward off the general and impressionistic comments and intuitive analysis.Literary stylistics is an effective tool to help to identify,reduce or avoid the occurrence of “deceptive equivalence” in fictional translation.It is expected that this research can enrich the perspectives of Chinese translations of George Orwell and provide valuable information for relevant studies.