A Report On C-E Translation Of Oral Literature Sichuan Folk Tales (Excerpt)

This thesis is a C-E translation practical report based on oral literature Sichuan Folk Tales(SFT),which is an excerpt included in the oral literature chapter of Sichuan Provincial Records-Folklore Records.Sichuan locals combine historical and cultural traditions in Sichuan with oral literature to write and tell stories.These stories are vivid and exciting,showing Sichuan characteristics and rich cultural connotations.The SFT is used as a case study of this report for the following reasons.Firstly,translation about the textualization of oral literature is a sub-domain of translation studies with few researches,which is worth of deep exploring.Secondly,SFT is of high cultural value since oral literature spread in Sichuan containing rich culture information.Last but not least,the Sichuan dialect in SFT is entertaining,which highlights the language charm for readers of SFT.SFT has been textualized from oral to written,which is conducive to the preservation and follow-up research,but also brings challenges to the translating work.Firstly,the boundary between spoken and written language is blurred after dialect is textualized.Secondly,the loss of non-verbal languages such as intonations after textualization reduces the vividness and interest of the story.Thirdly,there is the conflict between story fluency and annotations.Based on translation challenges brought by textualization,the author finds that Meaning Theory of Morris is of great guiding significance to the translation work of SFT.Meaning Theory proposes three kinds of meanings,namely referential meaning,linguistic meaning,and pragmatic meaning.Three meanings guide the translation work,respectively,as follows.Firstly,the referential meaning of dialect translation can be realized by explicitation and substitution.Secondly,linguistic meaning can be reflected through assonance,consonance and alliteration for enhancing the interest and rhythm of the translation.Finally,from the perspective of pragmatic meaning,cultural information can be guaranteed through the adaptation of annotations while ensuring the fluency of stories.This report summarizes the experience of English translation research in Sichuan oral literature,and concludes specific translation methods in the form of case analysis for providing references to other translators of Sichuan oral literature.