A Comparative Study Of Two English Versions Of Na Han:from The Perspective Of Readability

The thesis analyzes two English versions of Lu Xun's Na Han:Call to Arms translated by Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang,and The Real Story ofAh-Q and Other Tales of China-The Complete Fiction ofLuXun translated by Julia Lovell.The theory of readability is applied in this thesis.Among all the elements of readability,four perspectives are specifically applied in this paper,namely,emotional involvement,idiomaticness,organization,and fluency,to measure the readability of these two English versions.Based on these four perspectives,the thesis does a comparative study between the translation works of Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang and of Julia Lovell,in order to find out their pursuit and achievement of readability.By thorough research,the thesis concludes that the translation of Julia Lovell achieves higher readability.Firstly,Lovell deploys more emotional involvement in her translation,which makes her language full of human touch;secondly,Lovell pays much more attention to the linguistic differences between Chinese and English.She adopts abstract nouns,nominalization and passive voice moderately.Hence,her translation achieves better literary effects and better suits the abstract and rational thinking patterns of English speakers;Lovell's translation also wins in terms of organization.Lovell is good at integrating information,so her translation is more logical;finally,Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang use footnotes and endnotes,but Lovell skillfully instills all the background knowledge and information into the text,which gives readers a smoother reading experience.The thesis studies the translation activities and works of the Yangs and Julia Lovell.It aims to enhance the popularity of Lu Xun's work and promote Chinese traditional culture in the western world.