A Study Of The English Translation Of Sheng Si Pi Lao From The Perspective Of Toury’s Translational Norms Theory

Sheng Si Pi Lao is one of the masterpieces of Mo Yan,the Nobel Prize winner in Literature.It is the most representative work of Mo Yan’s magic realism theme and style.The novel is translated by the famous American Sinologist Howard Goldblatt and wins the first American Newman Chinese Literature Award.It is recommended as a top world literary work by The Washington Post.Based on Toury’s theory of translational norms,this thesis studies the English translation of Sheng Si Pi Lao,analyzes the factors that affect the translator’s choices,and sums up the norms that restrict the translating process of the novel from three dimensions,namely,preliminary norms,operational norms and the initial norm.It is found that the translator is constrained by different norms in the process of translation.Under the constraint of preliminary norms,the translator’s choice of source text is influenced by the social background,the preferences of the publisher and the personal interests of his own.Under the constraint of operational norms,the translator makes use of omission,addition,and segmentation in his translation to better convey the meaning and cultural connotation of the original work.When translating words with Chinese cultural characteristics,especially the local expressions,he mainly adopts free translation,supplemented by literal translation and annotation.Under the constraint of the initial norm,the translator tends to conform to the norms of the target language,that is,acceptable translation.The research shows that the English version of Sheng Si Pi Lao can stand the test of Toury’s translational norms theory,conforming to the notion of the theory.Thus,it can be used as a reference for translators.