The Representation Of Spatial Narrative Features In The Translation Of Folding Beijing

Narratology refers to the communication process in which information is delivered and interpreted therefore in broader sense,narratology research is not limited to written texts or literature works,but rather,all aspects of life.In narrower sense,narratology research is limited to narrative works,narration,narrative structure and relevant theories,and that fully explains why traditional narratology research pays more attention to technological analysis on narrative texts.Despite of the fact that narrative texts own both time and space dimensions,the development of spatial narrative has in most cases been largely ignored when compared with time narrative research.It was until the limitations of traditional time-focused narratology research became more and more prominent that theorists and scholars turned to spatial narrative for possible solutions.In 1984,Gabriel Zoran established maybe the most comprehensive and practical theoretical model by far in his Towards a Theory of Space in Narrative.Borrowing such a model,this thesis is going to explore the spatial narrative features in the source text of Folding Beijing as well as their representation in the target text.The selected text Folding Beijing,originally published in December 2012,tells a story of delivering letter.According to the setting,people in future Beijing are divided into three spaces based on social class.One of the garbage processers from the Third Space,Lao Dao,delivers the letter between three spaces at the risk of life,just for earning better education resources for his daughter-in-law.Having been translated by Ken Liu,it won the 74^th Hugo Award for Best Novelette in August 2016.Since the author depicts a rather simple story within a short length in her characterized plain language,analysis on the source text is in most cases presented in the form of reader comment while on the target text the translation strategies,translator's initiative,translation acceptance,etc.In all,analysis from the perspective of spatial narrative is not frequently observed.In view of this,the thesis,by applying the systemic model put forward by Zoran,aims to explore the elements concerning the spatial narrative structure in the source text first.Besides,the thesis also considers the modifications conducted by the translator in representing corresponding spatial narrative features,as well as possible explanations,in hope of offering references for similar studies in the future,if possible.The whole thesis can be divided into six chapters,namely,introduction,literature review,theoretical model,text analysis,possible explanation and conclusion.In the second chapter,the origin and research area of spatial narrative is introduced first,then previous research combining spatial narrative and translation,followed by information on the selected text Folding Beijing.In the third chapter,the model established by Gabriel Zoran,covering both the horizontal and vertical dimensions,is structured and explained in detail,so as to offer theoretical basis for further analysis.For the main body chapter,the vertical structure of spatial narrative features in both the source and the target text,covering all of the topographic level,level and textual level,are outlined.To be more specific,at the topographic level,the translation version has fully presented the location space while adjusted elements at psychology and culture space.At the chronotopic level,it strictly follows the synchronic and diachronic relations in the source text.At the textual level,it retains the original narrative tempo while supplements more information;preserves narrative order while changes the narrative layout.In addition,in order to adjust the narrative viewpoint,it also makes modification in speeches.After that,the fifth chapter provides possible explanations on the success of the translation version,in which the representation of spatial narrative features plays an important role.Under the thesis,the theoretical model established by Zoran is bestowed upon practice value,while the unique narrative charm of the source text,as well as the tactful translation adjustments of the target text,gets better illustration.