A Study On English Translation Of Tiantang Suan Tai Zhi Ge From The Perspective Of Mona Baker's Narrative Theory

Mo Yan is the first native Chinese writer who won the Nobel Prize in literature in2012.His works have been considered as an important window through which westerners meet a new China.Mo Yan tells stories in China while translators frame and then retell these stories to the world.In this process,the way translators mediate these narratives in Mo Yan's works will have a great impact on target text readers' perception of China.According to social and communication theory,narrative is telling stories through which we perceive and frame the world we live in.Translation can be used to frame narratives,affecting target text readers' perception.In terms of the creative combination of narrative and translation studies,the English scholar Mona Baker is an outstanding contributor.In 2006,her book Translation and Conflict: A Narrative Account was published.By introducing the typology of narrative,features of narrativity and framing strategies,Baker presents us the framing function of translation and interpreting.Her narrative theory is so inspiring and practical that provides this study a solid theoretical foundation.In this research,Tiantang Suan Tai Zhi Ge,the second long novel written by Mo Yan,and its English version The Garlic Ballads,completed by Howard Goldblatt,are chosen as texts for analysis.Based on a true event,Tiantang Suan Tai Zhi Ge tells a story happened between the local government and garlic farmers,paying great attention to the survival condition of the latter.Faced with social issues,what position does the author Mo Yan stand and what is his narrative in the novel Tiantang Suan Tai Zhi Ge?How does the translator Howard Goldblatt mediate in The Garlic Ballads and what effect will this have on readers' perception? To answer these questions,this study will explore the story telling in the English translation of Tiantang Suan Tai Zhi Ge under the theoretical framework of Mona Baker's narrative theory.Mona Baker proposed four framing strategies,which are: temporal and spatial framing,selective appropriation of textual material,framing by labelling and repositioning of participants.This study finds that all the four strategies have been used in the translation and the original narratives have been circulated,resisted or dramatically changed in the target text.Firstly,by temporal and spatial framing,the vital narrative about the background of the garlic incident has been transformed into a totallydifferent one.Secondly,by means of omission and addition,the true ending of the story is suppressed,leaving problems unresolved,the voice from the official position is missing,and the severity of the conflict is overstated.Thirdly,by labelling names concerning political matters and address terms,sensitive political issues are resisted while garlic farmers' position of disadvantage is strengthened.Fourthly,by repositioning of participants within and out of the text,some relationships are hugely modified,especially framing the important character the young officer into a perfect hero to cater to the public narrative of individualism in western countries.