A Study On Narrative Point Of View Of Hulanhe Zhuan And Its Transference In English Version

Taking Shen Dan's theory of narrative point of view as theoretical basis,this paper aims to make a comparative study on the narrative point of view of Xiaohong's Hulanhe Zhuan and the transference Howard Goldblatt made in his English version.As an autobiographical local colorism novel,Hulanhe Zhuan has become a classic of modern Chinese fiction for its superb narrative skills,rich local cultural codes and profound themes.And it is welcomed in English world due to Goldblatt's flexible handling with the unique narrative point of view in original text in the process of his translation.Shen Dan classified the narrative point of view of literary works into four types: zero point of view,internal point of view,the first-person external point of view and the third-person point of view.By doing a close reading and making a comparative analysis on the original text and translated version of Tales of Hulan River,the author of this thesis finds that the narrative point of view in this novel can be categorized into three types,namely,zero point of view,the first-person internal point of view and the first-person external point of view.While in the process of his translation,no matter retaining or transferring these types of narrative point of view,Goldblatt could deal with them skillfully and thus makes his translation properly and smoothly.In his translation,based on different situation,Howard Goldblatt would choose to retain or transfer narrative point of view in the original text by means of shifting narrator,using different tense,changing utterance and so on.Specifically,in order to pursue the same narrative effect,Goldblatt chooses to retain zero point of view and the first-person external point of view of the original text.As for the first-person internal point of view,he chooses to shift experiencing “I” to narrating “I”,which makes it easier to be accepted by target text readers.Besides,Goldblatt also uses a variety of translation techniques to enhance the narrative effect of target language,which includes adding conjunctives,combining sentences or changing tenses.As an important component of literary narrative,narrative point of view plays a crucial role in character shaping,theme presenting and thought conveying.Based on Shen Dan's theory of narrative point of view,this thesis attempts to do a comparative study on the narrative point of view of Hulanhe Zhuan and its transference in Goldblatt's English translation,the author hopes it would be helpful for readers to have a deeper understanding on the narrative style,local cultural codes and theme of this classic work,and meanwhile it might provide a reference for Chinese literary translation as well as translation studies.