| First published in 1980,Chen Zhong De Chi Bang is one of representative works of Zhang Jie and the winner of the second Maodun Literary Prize.It has two English versions: Leaden Wings by Gladys Yang and Heavy Wings by Howard Goldblatt.Based on Chinese-English Parallel Corpus of Chen Zhong De Chi Bang,this thesis takes two main characters,Zheng Ziyun and Ye Zhiqiu,in the novel into case study.Under the theoretical framework of narratological stylistics,we choose speech presentation and focalization as entry points to carry out a comprehensive research on two character images reconstructed in the two translations.As the result shows,the two translators both reconstruct the two character images by retaining,deleting and changing to varying degrees.The reconstructed images in the two translations not only share some similarities but also present great differences.On the one hand,reconstructed characters in the two versions both tend to be much more simple and positive compared with the original complex and multidimensional ones thanks to large amount of deletion of lengthy arguments on political and economic policies and negative inner thoughts.Since appreciation of these arguments requires an inside knowledge of Chinese economy around 1980 s,it is difficult for western readers to understand.Taking into consideration of the readability and acceptance of the translations,the two translators adopt similar translation strategies.On the other hand,in terms of differences,the images of Zheng Ziyun in two versions are reconstructed to different degrees.Changes of speech presentation and focalization of Zheng in Heavy Wings are much smaller than those in Leaden Wings,resulting in the more radical reconstruction of the image of Zheng in Leaden Wings.And the images of the female character,Ye Zhiqiu,are totally different in two versions.Owing to the translation principles of Howard Goldblatt,little change has been made on character images in Heavy Wings.But the negative emotions and tragic features of Ye Zhiqiu are largely weakened in Leaden Wings as a result of the feminist awareness and cultural identity of Gladys Yang. |
