A Critique Of Two English Versions Of Fu Sheng Liu Ji: A Perspective From The Translational Norms Theory

Traditional translation studies attaches too much importance to the source text and formal equivalence in translation, which has hampered a further understanding of translational phenomena. Seeing translation as the result of a socially contextualized activity, Translational Norms Theory provides a new perspective for translation studies.Through analyzing two English versions of Fu Sheng Liu Ji from the perspective of Toury's triple norms, the thesis aims at having a better view of the translation action done by the translators in different social and cultural contexts.The thesis consists of five chapters.Chapter One gives a brief introduction to the research background, the status quo of the critique of English translations of Fu Sheng Liu Ji, the research methodology and the significance of the thesis.Chapter Two is literature review. The author briefs the studies of Translational Norms Theory within the scope of Descriptive Translation Studies, with special attention focused on the related academic findings, including Polysystem Theory proposed by Itamar Even-Zohar, triple translational norms initiated by Gideon Toury and professional norm and expectancy norm put forward by Andrew Chesterman.Chapter Three begins with a short introduction to Fu Sheng Liu Ji and its two translators—Lin Yutang and Shirley.M.Black. The author mainly examines how various norms in the target culture manipulate the translators' selection of source text and specific translation strategies and how the three norms-- preliminary norms, initial norms and operational norms expounded by Toury operate at each stage of translating.Chapter Four makes a detailed comparative analysis of the two English versions of Fu Sheng Liu Ji from the linguistic and cultural perspectives. The author sorts out three major cultural phenomena according to the category of Xing Fuyi and attempts to study how they are translated by the translators from different cultures. Chapter Five, the conclusion, reiterates that translators' decision is inevitably affected and constrained by various norms. After a short review of the thesis, the author introspects the limitation and deficiency of the thesis, and makes a tentative proposal for further studies.