A Study On The English Translation Of Gao Xing From The Perspective Of Adaptation Theory

Jia Pingwa is one of the leading figures in contemporary Chinese literary circles.As one of the most famous writers in the history of modern Chinese literature,Jia Pingwa has a wealth of books,and many of his works have been translated into other languages to go international.As one of Jia Pingwa’s novels,Gao Xing takes the protagonist Happy Liu and his companions picking up trash in Xi’an as the main line of the story.It tells the current situation of the people at the bottom of society in the city,and reflects the author’s concern about the realistic problem of peasants’ living in the city.Facing the hardships of life,the protagonist always maintains a humorous and optimistic attitude,and his persistent pursuit of a happy life deeply attracts and moves readers at home and abroad.The English version of Gao Xing is translated by Nicky Harman,a famous British Sinologist.Nicky Harman focuses on the English translation of Chinese literature and is committed to promoting the dissemination of Chinese culture.At present,she has published more than 20 translated works.Since the English version of the novel Gao Xing was published,its translation（Happy Dreams）has been widely welcomed by Western readers,and has been concerned and praised by scholars at home and abroad.Studying the successful translation and introduction of Jia Pingwa’s work Gao Xing will help us spread Chinese culture and help more excellent Chinese culture go abroad.Based on the adaptation theory of Belgian scholar Verschueren,this thesis studies the English translation of Gao Xing from three dimensions: communicative context of adaptability,structural objects of adaptability and dynamics of adaptability,and further confirms that the English translation process of Gao Xing is a process of constantly making language choices in adapting to the social-culture of the source language and the target language,and analyzes the translation methods mainly adopted by the translators and the translation effects achieved.communicative context of adaptability is presented from mental world,social world and physical world,and structural objects of adaptability is analyzed from language code,phonetic,lexical and syntactical level.Dynamics of adaptability mainly refers to the simultaneous effect of context and language factors on language choice.The flexibility and variability of language choice make discourse meanings dynamically generated with the continuous progress of communication and the constant changes of topics.Through the above analysis,this thesis aims to answer the following two questions:（1）What translation methods are preferred by the translator in the process of translating Gao Xing from the perspective of Adaptation Theory ?（2）What translation effects are produced in the process of translating Gao Xing with the methods mentioned in the first question?It is found that the reason why Nicky Harman’s translation of Gao Xing is so popular and praised is that the translator adopts flexible translation methods on the basis of faithfulness and also fully considering the comprehension and reading expectations of English readers.In terms of communicative context of adaptability,the translator mainly adopts paraphrase,idiomatic translation and omission,etc.,which adapts to the understanding of the target language readers,reduces reading obstacles,improves the acceptance of the target language readers and promote cultural exchange;As far as the structural object of adaptability is concerned,the translator mainly uses paraphrase and idiomatic translation method to translate the Shaanxi dialect vocabulary and four character idioms in the original text,so as to adapt to the language and culture of the source language and the target language.At the same time,for the use of the same words in different contexts,Nicky Harman translates them differently according to the changing context and the specific meaning of the same word,which is an embodiment of the dynamics of adaptability.The application of adaptation theory to the study of English translation of Chinese literary works is conducive to enhancing the readability of the original text and improving the acceptance of Chinese literary works by target language readers,so as to better realize cultural communication.This thesis broadens a new perspective for the study of English translation of Gao Xing,further proves the strong explanatory power of adaptation theory in literary translation,and provides some theoretical guidance and reference for other translators in the future translation practice..