| The Three-Body Problem is the representative work of Chinese science fiction writer Liu Cixin.It describes a fiction about the alien aggression of the earth,triggered by a woman who launched an interstellar signal during the Cultural Revolution.And thus the fiction spreads with the story between the earth civilization and Trisolaran civilization.In 2014,it was translated by Chinese-American translator Ken Liu,who is a science fiction writer as well.Once published,it has been widely acclaimed by foreign readers.Gaining some international awards,it has successfully elevated Chinese science fiction to the world-class level.In China,therefore,it is recognized as one of the best hard science fictions.In 1981,the Semantic and Communicative Translation Theory was put forward in Peter Newmark's book Approaches to Translation.Semantic Translation requires that under the premise of semantic and syntax of the target language,the translator tries to reproduce the original meaning of context as much as possible.Communicative Translation requires that the effect that the translations produced to its readers is equal to that of the original to its readers.Based on the above,this thesis tries to analyze the distinct contents of the science fiction concretely from the perspective of Newmark's Semantic Translation and Communicative Translation.The distinct contents consist of the vivid descriptions of characters,the use of technical terms,the descriptions about the scenes of science,coined words,the background of Cultural Revolution and the descriptions of ancient Chinese historical culture.The thesis consists of four chapters.Chapter one makes a literature review of studies on the writer Liu Cixin,background,theme and text features of The Three-Body Problem,and the translator,his translation style and translation characteristics of the English Version.Moreover,the previous studies on The Three-Body Problem are also included in this chapter.Chapter two is the theoretical framework which describes Newmark's view of translation studies,the proposal,definition,comparison,unity and some previous studies of his Semantic Translation and Communicative Translation.Chapter three,the thesis chooses some typical examples,analyzes the application of Semantic Translation in the version from three respects that the translation of descriptions of characters including language,appearance and psychology,the coined words and science-related information.Chapter four,also selects some significant examples and analyzes the application of Communicative Translation in the version from three perspectives that the translation of the culture-loaded words including the specific words in Cultural Revolution,unique Chinese items and the literary allusion,the proverbs and metaphor.The following are the major findings:Firstly,Communicative Translation and Semantic Translation are impartible.this thesis proves that Semantic Translation matches the contents of descriptions of characters,science-related information and coined words more in science fiction translation,while Communicative Translation is more appropriate for culture-loaded words,the proverbs and metaphor.Secondly,the thesis proves that the translation strategies of literal translation(include imitating translation and transliteration)are applied more in Semantic Translation.While,free translation,addition,substitution,Gen translation,literal translation with annotation appeared more in Communicative Translation.All in all,the analysis of The Three-Body Problem and its English version based on the Semantic and Communicative Translation Theory,can help us recognize the success of the work and help foreign readers have a better understanding of it.It is confirmed once again that Semantic and Communicative Translation Theory is applicable to the study of English translation of Chinese science fictions such as The Three-Body Problem.It also provides references for the translation of other Chinese science literary works. |
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