Representation Of Lao Can As A Character Image Through Dialogue Translation

Lao Can You Ji is praised as one of the four “novels of exposure” in the late Qing dynasty by Lu Xun,for its great artistic value and profound social and cultural significance.Lao Can,as the soul of this novel,carries the author Liu E's values and thoughts.For literary translation,not only should the literal meaning be conveyed,but also the author's thoughts should also be transferred.Therefore,the representation of Lao Can as a character image becomes a key aspect in translating the novel.As for the characterization of Lao Can,there is not so much direct description.The character image of Lao Can is mostly displayed in the form of dialogue.Dialogue is an important means of shaping character images in fiction.The understanding of dialogues in fiction depends on the context.The context is exactly the focus of the register theory.According to the register theory,a register consists of three variables – field,tenor and mode.Based on the three variables,the register theory can be adopted to analyze dialogues in a systematic and effective manner.This thesis selects dialogue translations from the three English versions of Lao Can You Ji and employs the register theory to focus on the problem of representing Lao Can as a character image.First of all,the thesis analyzes three dimensions of the character image of Lao Can: a tramp doctor,an intellectual and a chivalrous man.Based on the three dimensions,the thesis analyzes the register features of dialogues in the original text in terms of field,tenor and mode.Then a comparative analysis of the register features between dialogues in the original text and dialogue translations in the three English versions is conducted so as to examine the influences of reconstructing register in dialogue translation on the representation of Lao Can as a character image.According to the study,in dialogue translation,different translation strategies adopted by translators can influence the re-establishment of the original register in the target text,further affecting the representation of Lao Can as a character image in translation.For Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang's version,a strategy of domesticating translation is adopted.In this way,many culture-loaded words and expressions indicating the particular register of the original text have lost their distinct cultural flavor.Then the register of the original text fails to be established in the target text,thus undermining the faithful representation of Lao Can as a character image in translation.For Shadick's version,a strategy of foreignizing translation is mainly adopted where there is a tendency to maintain the cultural features in the original text.On the one hand,it is effective to achieve the equivalence of register between the source text and the target text,thus fully representing Lao Can as a character image in translation;but on the other hand,the strategy of foreignizing translation would make the translated text a little bit weird in some cases and then fail to re-establish the original register in the target text,further leading to the distortion of the character image of Lao Can.Lin YiChin and Ko Te-shun's version combines domesticating translation with foreignizing translation,which is beneficial to re-establish the original register in translation,further faithfully representing Lao Can as a character image.In addition,all of the three English versions attempt to strengthen the cohesion between lines,which to some extent may change the mode of the original text.Since the three variables are interdependent,sometimes a change in the mode would lead to a change in the field and tenor and then it may affect the representation of Lao Can as a character image in translation.