Translating Dialects In English And Chinese Literary Works:A Comparative Study

Dialects in literary works,just like dialects in real life,are vehicles of social-cultural significations.Therefore,dialect translation is more than a simple correspondance of one to one in most of their detail,but a process of selection and conversion involving various layers of messages and implications.Due to limited knowledge of the form,significance and function of both Chinese and English dialects,dialect translation study between Chinese and English remains a field insufficiently explored.Based on the differences between English and Chinese dialects,this researc makes a multi-dimensional comparative study of bi-directional dialect translation(English to Chinese and Chinese to English)with reference to double genres(fiction and drama),by using Hong Loumeng,a Chinese novel,Teahouse,a Chinese drama,Tess of the d’Urbervilles,an English novel,and Pygmalion,an English drama and their translations by the approach of literary stylistics,aiming to compare the modes of dialect translation between English to Chinese and Chinese to English,to compare strategies used in different genres,and to delve into subtleties of dialect translation language and factors that may have influence on it.The quantative and qualitative study of this research reveals that given the differences in form and function between Chinese and English dialects,E-C and C-E dialect translation are disparate in the mode of conversion and dialect strategy means different in different direction.In E-C dialect translation,a geographical dialect is more likely to be used to transfer the implication of the original dialect,and the application of a Chinese geographical dialect as a sociolect,is more effective in representing the function of the original dialect.However,In C-E dialect translation,the implication of the original dialect is of greater difficulty to be represented,and the adoption of non-standard language shall conform to English literature tradition in which non-standard language generally highlights the social status of characters speaking non-standard language.Dialect translation language is normally more standardized than the original language,and exceptionally dilaectized when under special social or cultural circumstances,such as Zhang Guruo’s translation of Tess of the d’Urbervilles(1936).The structure of non-standard language in English literature could be more easily represented in Chinese,but adds exoticity to the translation language.Contrarily,Enlish translation language is more likely to be standardized due to the form of Chinese dialect in literary works.Based on the quantative and qualitative research,this research concludes that function and register of a dialect constitute the direct context of dialect translation.Genre determines the stylistic function of a text,even serves for translation purpose and hence is of relevance to the desired type and frequency of dialect translation strategies.Basically,a translator’s choice of strategies is conditioned by vairous factors:differences between the original and the target language and culture,context of the receptor language,a translators’s perception of his/her own postion as a translator,his/her linguistic and cultutral background,etc.A translator is in the central position to maintain a balance between textual requirements and norms of target language and target culture.Generally,context of target langauge will exert its restriction on the text,when these two are in confrontation.This research deepens the dialect translation study between English and Chinese,provides theoretical support and empirical evidences for dialect translation practice,and is supposed to draw more attention to the translation study of dialects and other language varieties concerned.