An Analysis Of Goldblatt's Identities In The English Translation Of Chinese Folk Language In The Perspective Of The Translator Behavior Criticism

In Chinese literary works,one of the most representatives is the local literature,which is presented in various folk languages.Therefore,when studying the translation of local literature,it is necessary to study the translation of the folk language.The analysis of successful translators'translation of Chinese folk language will help us find the rules behind the translator behavior and provide useful inspiration for future practitioners and critics.American sinologist HowardGoldblatt is recognized as a successful "chief" translator of Chinese modern and contemporary literature.So it is necessary to analyze his translation of folk language to find his general pattern of the translator behavior.In 2012,Mo Yan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature,which chiefly owns to Howard Goldblatt's great contributions.Most of Mo Yan's works are about rural life and therefore contain a large number of native languages.With distinct Chinese culture characteristics and national style,Chinese folk language is enriched with strong soil taste,Chinese culture images and heterogeneity,which is a great challenge for translators.With the help of Zhou Lingshun's Translator Behavior Criticism Theory(specifically"Truth-seeking-Utility-attaining" Evaluative Model of Continuum)and the mini-corpus of folk language from Mo Yan's ten books and their translations by Howard Goldblatt,this thesis makes a comprehensive research on Howard Goldblatt's identities in the translation of folk language and explores the factors influencing the formation of his cultural identities,which is expected to provide a new perspective for the translation of folk language and the study of translator's identities,and still to provide some valuable references for Chinese culture going out.This paper will discuss the following three questions:(1)How did he deal with the folk language in Mo Yan's works?(2)What are his cultural identities when translating folk language?(3)What are the factors contributing to Goldblatt's identities?Through the analysis,this thesis draws the following conclusions:Howard Goldblatt shows three major identities in the translation of folk language—cultural introducer,cultural coordinator and creator.When the translation has a high degree of truth-seeking and is close to the original text and author,Howard Goldblatt is a cultural introducer.He usually adopts the foreignization strategy to preserve the cultural image in the original text and introduce the "local color" to the readers.When the translation is in the condition of semi-truth-seeking and semi-utility-attaining,Howard Goldblatt is a coordinator.He is engaged in two languages and two cultures.On one hand,he tries to retain the "local color" and bring the Chinese culture to Western readers;on the other hand,he must also consider the reader's acceptability so that readers can understand the true meaning.When the translation is of high degree of utility-attaining or zero truth-seeking,Howard Goldblatt is a creator.When translation is in the condition of high utility-attaining degree,the translation is consistent with the original text in its communicative efficacy.Howard Goldblatt created the translation so that the "folk flavor" in the original text cannot be found in the translation.There are two situations where the translation is of zero truth-seeking.One is that the meaning of the translation is different from the original text,which is commonly regarded as "mistranslation".This translation resulted from Howard Goldblatt's misunderstanding.The other is omission.Howard Goldblatt deleted some of the original text in the process of translation and there is no trace of the deleted part in the translation.In addition,the factors influencing his identities are the features of folk language,Goldblatt's views on translation,writers,patrons and readers.This thesis consists of six chapters.Chapter one introduces the research background,the research questions,the research significance and the structure of the thesis.Chapter two is the literature review.It firstly reviews the previous study of folk language,and then shows the related studies of translator's identities both at home and abroad.Chapter three is the theoretical framework,which introduces Zhou Lingshun's Translator Behavior Criticism theory and the"Truth-seeking-Utility-attaining" Evaluative Model of Continuum.Chapter four analyzes Howard Goldblatt's cultural identities in the translation of folk language from the perspective of"Truth-seeking-Utility-attaining" Evaluative Model of Continuum.Chapter five explores the factors influencing Howard Goldblatt's identities in translation.Chapter six is the conclusion,including the major findings,the limitations of this thesis and some suggestions for future research.