Two English translations of the Chinese epic novel Sanguo yanyi : a descriptive and functionalist study

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This comparative study investigates the English translations of China's first novel, Sanguoyanyi. The focus is firstly on describing the factors that affect the production of each of thetranslations and secondly on identifying and determining the approaches and strategies usedby the two translators. The primary objective of the study is to gain a better understanding ofliterary translation between two distinctly different languages by objectively describing andanalyzing the factors relevant to the production of the two translations. The secondaryobjective is to evaluate the two translations by using the functionalist approach to translation.To this end, the study determines which of the two translations better serves the purpose ofproviding South African students of Chinese with insight into and appreciation of someaspects of Chinese culture which would enhance their Chinese studies.The key theories and models that are introduced and applied are Descriptive TranslationStudies (DTS), which was mainly established by Gideon Toury in the 1980s and theFunctionalist Approach, which was established by Vermeer and Reiss also in the 1980s andfurther developed by Nord. DTS focuses on pragmatic aspects, such as social, cultural andcommunicative practices instead of only on linguistic units. Within this framework, decisionmakingprocesses and translational norms of the two translators of Sanguo yanyi are examined.Three representative chapters of the source text and their translations are selected as the focusof the investigation. Furthermore, a description of the entire translation process is provided –from the translators' original planning and agents acting as patrons of the project to theapproaches and strategies that the translators are considered to have adopted in the process oftranslating. Within Functionalism the function of the target text in the target culturedetermines which aspects of the source text should be transferred to the target text. From thistheoretical approach the findings regarding the translation strategies and processes in thetranslations of Sanguo yanyi are used to ultimately determine the extent to which thetranslators succeed in conveying the collective memory of some of the cultural-historicalissues in China to the target texts, while at the same time making the texts accessible toWestern (South African) students.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University