A Translation Project Report Of Cloudstreet(Chapter Ⅶ)

This paper is an English-Chinese translation project report of a fiction.The original text of the project is selected from the seventh chapter of Cloudstreet written by Tim Winton,a famous Australian writer.The novel told the story of two ordinary families who lived in Perth,the capital of Western Australia,for the 20 years after World War II,reproducing the life of ordinary people in rural towns of Australia at that time.The translation of Cloudstreet into Chinese helps Chinese readers enter Australian literature and understand the daily life and social status of small local figures in Australia during World War Ⅱ.This translation project,with the help of descriptive translation studies,provides practical examples for broadening the application of Toury’s normative theory in novel translation.At the same time,through this prelirminary trial of Australian literary translation,the author hopes to promote the exchanges between Australian culture and Chinese culture.In the whole process of translation,the author,guided by Toury’s descriptive translation studies theory and assisted by relevant translation strategies,has solved three difficult problems in the process of translation:the translation of sexual acts,the translation of vulgar language and culture-loaded words,and the translation of scenery and psychological activities.The core of Toury’s descriptive translation theory is initial norms,preliminary norms and operational norms.Initial norms require to find a balance between the cultural norms of the target language and the source language,so as to better reflect the"adequacy"and"acceptability"of the translation.In accordance with initial norms,the translation of vulgar language and culture-loaded words retains the cultural characteristics of the source language,and conform to the understanding of target language readers at the same time.Preliminary norms require the translator to be closely related to the reality by putting the translation into a specific situation of language,culture and time,and break through the closed space,which helps to control the degree of expression in the translation of sexual acts.Operational norms refer to the form of expression and language content of the translated text,which are divided into parent norms(about the integrity of the translated text)and text language norms(restricting the choice of language materials in the translated text),so as to guide scenery and psychological descriptions.In translation,appropriate adjustments should be made in meaning addition,vocabulary selection and sentence pattern transformation.Through this translation project,the author deeply understands the importance of Touri’s descriptive translation studies in guiding fiction translation:initial norms can guide the translator to control the different cultural backgrounds of the two languages and smoothly carry out cultural transmission between the source language and the target language;preliminary norms can guide the translator to make appropriate choices of the original text in correspondence with translation policies in target language;operational norms can guide the translator to deliberate on the translation in terms of the whole structures and the details of the words and sentences.Meanwhile,the author also realizes that translation is a bridge connecting different cultures,carrying a heavy cultural heritage and shouldering a great sense of mission.