Translation Strategies Of Imitative Words In The Animal Novel The Dhole Hound

Animal novels, a sub-genre of children’s literature, is read widely while studied rarely. In China, animal novels took shape in the 1980’s. The representative writers are Shen Shixi, Jin Zenghao, Li Chuanfeng, Liang Po and Mu Ling, among whom Shen Shixi is hailed as the greatest.Animals can not speak. Only through all kinds of sounds can they express their feelings. So there are relatively more imitative words used in animal novels. When translating animal novels, how to translate imitative words to convey animals’ feelings properly is the most difficult thing. In both Chinese and English animal novels, there are abundant imitative words, characters, and expressions which help increase the readability of these novels. However, what we must indicate is that there are fewer laws but more differences when translating different kinds of animal novels. So if we can translate such imitative words, characters, and expressions accurately the readers of a foreign culture will feel the same as the readers of the original culture.The report is based on the reporter’s translation of the three chapters of The Dhole Hound written by Shen Shixi and emphasizes the ways of translating imitative characters and expressions. In the beginning, the report makes a brief introduction of Shen Shixi and his novels and analyzes the features of animal novels; then reviews the translation process and chooses several typical cases to analyze. In the process of translation, the reporter tries to choose proper imitative words to accord with children’s reading habits and to ensure the relish of the translated version. At last, the reporter summaries the difficulties and solutions in translating imitative characters and expressions and her translation experiences.As the report reveals, the reporter gets a deeper understanding of the translation of animal novels after this practice. Translators should take into account such factors as targets of translation, transmission of original meanings, readers’ demands and clients’ requirements so as to guarantee the quality of the translated version.