This book offers a novel perspective on the intersection of translation and narration in literary translation by investigating how three translations of Shuihu Zhuan present the original narrative mode to the target readership in terms of four narrative elements-voice, commentary, point of view and motif-in different periods of history. It not only validates but also quantifies the differences in strategy-making patterns between translators, as well as between different narratological categories. The established theoretical frameworks (including a narrative-descriptive model and a sociological explanatory framework) and the data collected may provide methodological and empirical support for further studies on shifts of narrative features in translation. The tendencies manifested by different translators and identified by the study may also shed new light on the teaching and learning of translation skills. The book offers a valuable reference guide for scholars, practitioners, translators and graduate students in the fields of e.g. language, translation, literature and cultural studies, and for anyone with an interest in Chinese classical literature, Chinese-English translation, narrative studies or cross-cultural studies.

Autorentext

Dr. Yunhong Wang is a translation scholar and practitioner, and holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She currently teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on translation as an associate professor affiliated with Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. Dr. Wang has published more than twenty research articles in journals such as Chinese Translators Journal, Journal of Foreign Languages,Babel, Neohelicon and Perspectives. Her main research areas include translation studies, cultural studies and sociology of translation.

Inhalt

List of abbreviations Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 An overview of English translations of Shuihu Zhuan 1.2 Existing studies of English translations of Shuihu Zhuan 1.3 The scope of the present study 1.4 Backgrounds of the three translators 1.4.1 Pearl S. Buck 1.4. 2 Sidney Shapiro 1.4.3 John & Alex Dent-Young Chapter 2 Theorectical Framework and research model 2.1 On describing translation 2.1.1 Linguistic approaches to translation 2.1.2 Descriptive translation studies 2.2 A research methodology for Chinese to English fictional translation 2.2.1 The emergence of a narratological perspective 2.2.2 A particular narrative mode in Chinese vernacular fiction 2.2.3 A multi-dimensional research model for the present study Chapter 3 Preliminaries 3.1 The three target texts and their reception 3.1.1 All Men Are Brothers 3.1.2 Outlaws of the Marsh 3.1.3 The Marshes of Mount Liang 3.2 Mapping target texts on the appropriate source text(s) 3.2.1 The source text of All Men Are Brothers 3.2.2 The source text of Outlaws of the Marsh 3.2.3 The source text of The Marshes of Mount Liang 3.2.4 Selection of one source text as the parallel text 3.3 An initial comparison of the titles of the three English translations 3.4 Summary Chapter 4 Narration and Voice 4.1 An overview of narration and voice 4.2 Mode of narration in Shuihu Zhuan 4.2.1 The mode of narration and its narrative significance in the source text 4.2.3 Categories of narrative markers 4.3 Narrative markers in translation 4.3.1 The translation of beginning narrative markers 4.3.2 The translation of ending narrative markers 4.3.3 The translation of transitional narrative markers 4.3.4 The translation of other categories of narrative markers 4.4 A retrospective description of narrative mode in translation 4.4.1 All Men Are Brothers 4.4.2 Outlaws of the Marsh 4.4.3 The Marshes of Mount Liang 4.5 Summary Chapter 5 Commentary in translation 5.1 Definition and typology of commentary in narrative fiction 5.2 A particular poetry-as-commentary tradition in the source system 5.3 Commentaries in Shuihu Zhuan 5.3.1 Poetry-as-commentary in Shuihu Zhuan 5.3.2 Rhetorical questions 5.3.3 Interpretations 5.3.4 Generalization 5.3.5 Judgment 5.4 The translation of commentary 5.4.1 Poetry-as-commentary in translation 5.4.2 Rhetorical questions in translation 5.4.3 Interpretation in translation 5.4.4 Generalization in translation 5.4.5 Judgment in translation 5.5 Summary Chapter 6 Point of View in translation 6.1 Definition and typology of point of view in narrative fiction 6.1.1 Omniscient point of view 6.1.2 Internal point of view 6.1.3 External point of view 6.1.4 Difference and relationship betweeen point of view and voice 6.2 Point of view in Shuihu Zhuan 6.2.1 Omniscient point of view and its relation to voice in Shuihu Zhuan 6.2.2 Character's point of view in Shuihu Zhuan6.2.3 Shift of point of view and its textual indicators 6.3 Point of view in translation 6.3.1 Omniscient point of view in translation 6.3.2 Character's point of view in translation 6.4 A retrospective study of point of view in the three target texts 6.4.1 Point of view in All Men Are Brothers 6.4.2 Point of view in Outlaws of the Marsh 6.4.3 Point of view in The Marshes of Mount Liang 6.5 Summary Chapter 7 Motifs and Themes as Constructed in the Three Translations 7.1 Distinction and relationship between motif and theme 7.1.1 Motif in narrative 7.1.2 Theme and its relation to motif in narrative 7.2 Themes and motifs in Shuihu Zhuan 7.2.1 Yi as a complex of motifs 7.2.2 Jianghu as a Motif 7.2.3 Cannibalism as a Motif 7.2.4 Misogynism as a Motif 7.3 Motifs in Translation 7.3.1 Yi in the Translations of Shuihu Zhuan 7.3.2 Jianghu in the Translations of Shuihu Zhuan 7.3.3 Cannibalism in the translations of Shuihu Zhuan 7.3.4 Misogynism in the translations of Shuihu Zhuan 7.4 Summary Chapter 8 Findings and Explanations 8.1 Tendencies of the three translators 8.1.1 Pearl S. Buck 8.1.2 Sidney Shapiro 8.1.3 John and Alex Dent-Young 8.2 Explanations for the different tendencies 8.2.1 The sociocultural contexts of the three translations 8.2.2 The norms behind the three translations 8.2.3 The skopos of the three translators 8.2.4 The habitus of the three translators Chapter 9 Conclusion 9.1 Major findings in summary 9.2 Implications 9.2 Limitations and SuggestionsReferences