A Study On The English Translation Of Martial Arts Novels From The Perspective Of Narratological Stylistics

Louis Cha(1924-2018)is the grandmaster of martial arts novel.His martial arts novels have always been popular with readers.Shediao Yingxiong Zhuan is one of Louis Cha’s early works,however it has never had its official English translation until now since its publication 61 years ago.The translation is so successful that it has been reprinted for many times.It is worth exploring how the translator endows the novel with a new life on the other side of the ocean.Taking The Legends of the Condor Heroes as the object of the research,this thesis conducts a comparative analysis on Shediao Yingxiong Zhuan and its translation from the theoretical perspective of narratological stylistics.This thesis analyzes how the translator deals with the prominent stylistic features and narrative forms of the source text,and tries to discuss if the translator conveys the thematic meaning and aesthetic effect of the source text in the target text.This thesis carries on the analyses and discussions from the following planes: narrative structure,lexical level,syntactic level,speech and thought presentation and shifts of focalization.In fictional translation,deceptive equivalence will generate if the translator only focuses on the translation of the reality,neglects the realization of thematic meaning and reproduction of aesthetic effect.Through the detailed analyses,the study finds that the phenomenon of deceptive equivalence has been shown in the translation to some extent,some narrative and aesthetic effects are lost in the translation.The causations and influences of the phenomenon are expounded in details in the thesis.In addition,the study also finds that the translator not only simplifies the translation,highlights the main storyline,but also produces its own aesthetic effect in the translation of description of particular scenes.This attempt made by the translator can also bring inspiration to further translation practices.