A Study On The Value Of Retranslation From The Diachronic Perspective

Language,as a social phenomenon,varies with different stages of social development and there will be many different language norms accordingly.Translators living in different periods will be more or less influenced by the current social linguistic norms and have the varied comprehension or interpretation of the same original.For this reason,retranslations are distinctive and various.Although researches on the value of retranslations are common,there still remains limitations,such as single methodology,limited research perspectives and inadequate diachronic objects.This study is a cross-language,cross-era,interdisciplinary research which gives the related interpretation of profound connotations in language norms.The study would like to enrich the research strategies and means,provide convincing materials for reference,broaden the way of thinking for scholars in related fields to research and make a contribution to retranslation researches.Three Chinese retranslations of Pride and Prejudice are main objects in this study.For publishing date among three versions,it spans at least ten years,which is in line with the characteristics of language change.Three retranslations with highly representativeness are the ideal references for the comparative study.The diachronic analysis is taken as the main framework,lexical,syntactic and textual perspectives are employed in comparative and integrated study which aims to analyze the similarities and differences of language norms in specific historical periods and shows retranslations changes from the diachronic perspective.The characteristics of retranslated texts are related to specific historical periods in order to reflect retranslation features and explore the value of retranslation from the diachronic perspective.In terms of research methods,qualitative and quantitative analyses are adopted.In addition to researches on texts,three Chinese retranslated corpora and one original corpus are built to improve the research methods and enhance the objectivity of analysis on the basis of bilingual parallel corpus research model.On such bases,the study has reached the following conclusions:First of all,retranslated versions are constantly changing with the development of language in different periods,which reflects the advancement and improvement of language.Through the exploration of evidential markers,special sentence patterns and structural capacity,retranslations are amended and advanced in completion constantly,which embodies the necessity and significance of retranslation.At the same time,retranslated versions transcend in innovation and mutual learning,and strive to give readers a better reading experience."Retranslation" does not only mean "repetition",but also has more rich meanings including the consideration of readers,translators and other features.The usage of characteristic words,the change of translation unit and the addition of auxiliary text show the creativity and irreplaceable of retranslations,radiate the vigor and vitality of the original and give the readers a good reading experience.Thirdly,for the multi-cultural exchange,retranslation also carries the mission of cultivating national cultural self-confidence in the new era.Retranslations no longer blindly pursue or imitate the culture in other countries,but pay more attention to the reading experience of their own readers.With narrowing the gap in different culture,retranslations show the inheritance and development of the national culture.