A Comparative Study On The Two Selected English Versions Of Na Han Under The Guidance Of Toury's Translation Norms

With the development of translation studies,Descriptive Translation Studies(DTS)has become the hot research.The representative figure Gideon Toury's Translation Norms Theory(TNT)embodies the constraints of culture upon language.His definition of TNT not only refers to the norms of language with which the text itself should comply,but also the norms in the broad cultural and social system.The TNT provides a new angle of view in analyzing the influence of such factors as specific history,culture and ideology in the translation process,and more reasonable and accurate interpretation of the practical translation phenomena,hence making a far-reaching impact on translation studies.Lu Xun,as the founder of modern contemporary literature,is considered to be the most prominent and creative writer in China.His literary works have far-reaching influence in China and even all over the world.Na Han,one of the representative works of Lu Xun,shows the characteristic of cultural innovation and thinking enlightenment.With totally different cultural backgrounds and distinctive translation styles,the two translation versions of Yang Xianyi &Gladys Yang and Julia Lovell published in the 1950 s and in 2009 respectively have aroused profound significance at home and abroad.Based on the theory of Toury's Translation Norms,this thesis conducts a comparative study on the differences of two English versions as well as the influential factors behind the translation behavior in terms of preliminary norms,initial norms and operational norms with the methodology of qualitative analysis and comparative induction.It draws the conclusion that following different translation norms,the translators from different social,historical and culturalenvironment will produce quite distinctive translation works.The preliminary norms affect the translators' text selection and translation purpose;the initial norms influence the translators' choices of macro translation strategy,namely,the Yangs' inclination to "adequacy" and Lovell's inclination to "acceptability" .In addition,operational norms influence their translation behaviors in terms of words,sentences and stylistic features and determine the differences in adopting specific translation techniques.Based on the above research results,this thesis comes to the conclusion that translators' translation behaviors are the results of the multiple factors,such as social culture,historical background as well as readers acceptance,etc.Meanwhile translators' translation behaviors decide their translation purposes,translation principles and translation strategies.Therefore it provides the theoretical enlightenment to systematize and deepen the translation studies of Lu Xun's short stories,promotes the spread of Lu Xun's works and Chinese culture overseas and has a realistic significance on the "Chinese Culture going out" strategy.