A Study On Gao Jian’s Prose Translation From Textual Cohesive Perspective

Cohesion has attracted great attention in linguistics and translation since theestablishment of cohesion theory. It is a visible network displaying on surfacestructure of the text and plays an important role in the creation of a text andtranslation study. English and Chinese have similarities and differences in cohesivedevices. In order to obtain natural and frequent translation, translators need to have agood command of cohesive devices, and make appropriate adjustments in translationpractice.Cohesion varies both across languages and across text types. Prose laysemphasis on simplicity, smoothness and conciseness in language and also stressesbeauty in sound, beauty in form and beauty in content. It is the spiritual wealth thatneeds to be cherished through translation. But previous studies of prose translationfocus on reception aesthetics and translating style, and the studies of cohesion theoryfocus on novel translation, poetry translation and advertisement translation. Therefore,it is a good attempt to study Gao Jian’s prose translation from cohesive perspective.The thesis selects cohesive devices to analyze Gao Jian’s prose translation ACollection of British and American Essays. The thesis cites plentiful examples toanalyze Gao Jian’s translation from two aspects: grammatical cohesion (reference,substitution, ellipsis and conjunction) and lexical cohesion (reiteration andcollocation), and then puts forward translation strategies adopted by Gao Jian inhopes of providing guidance for future English-Chinese prose translation. The resultshows that the effective transformation of cohesive devices contributes greatly to thequality of translation. Specifically, personal references are used more frequently inEnglish prose than those in Gao Jian’s translation. No corresponding word in Chinesehas the same cohesive function as definite article the in English prose, and Gao Jian’stranslation is comparatively flexible in translation of definite article. Gao Jian’stranslation has no comparatives of adjectives and adverbs as in English prose. Theoccurrence of substitution in Gao Jian’s translation is less than those in English prose. Ellipsis in English prose is usually accompanied by formal markers, whereas GaoJian tends to use “repetition” to strengthen the power of language. Compared withEnglish prose, Gao Jian’s translation tends to use fewer conjunctives in organizing thetext. In terms of lexical cohesion, if the lexical cohesion refers to the content words,they are translated directly in most cases. The difference is that Gao Jian’s translationis rich in expression, English-Chinese prose translation involves figure of speech andparallel structure. Translation strategies adopted by Gao Jian to deal with cohesion inEnglish-Chinese prose translation are mainly categorized into three aspects:amplification, conversion, omission.The study on Gao Jian’s prose translation theoretically enriches the applicationof cohesion theory. Practically, the study on how English prose differs from GaoJian’s translation from cohesive perspective can enhance translators’ understanding ofprose translation. The strategies summarized from Gao’s prose translation under theguidance of textual cohesion provide guidance for prose translation practice, andpromote cultural communication.