On The Reproduction Of The Style Of Contemporary Chinese Prose

Known as a misty poet,Bei Dao is also a prolific proser.The Gate Opens,his latest book,centers on his memory of his hometown—Beijing.Aesthetics,essential attribute of prose,requests a translator to faithfully reproduce the original style,attaching equal importance to form and content.In this sense,the thematic theory constitutes the theoretical foundation along with the cognitive schema theory.The first chapter is an introduction to the text and its writer.This project is dedicated to striking a balance between meanings and forms,of prime importance to the transmission of traditional culture.Chapter 2 concerns the two theories and relevant researches.The emergence of the thematic theory has marked the shift of translation study from syntactic equivalence to an overall perspective.The third chapter is an analysis of textual features.Apart from the simplicity of style and a complex of vernacular Chinese and dialects,almost every section is narrated in the chronological or spacial order.Chapter 4 is about case study.With respect to the textual cohesion and coherence,it is advisable to preserve the TP patterns like parallel structure and narrative in chronological or spacial order.The other TP patterns are mostly adjusted or even abandoned due to the hypotaxis of English versus parataxis of Chinese,the subject-prominence of English versus topic-prominence of Chinese and situation-prominent Chinese.As regards the culture-loaded words,the translator,aside from the preservation of the shared cognitive schemas,also reconstructed schemas through transliteration,explanation and notes so as to convey both connotation and denotation and fill the cultural gaps.In conclusion,the cultural differences and discrepant thinking models entail the reestablishment of cognitive schema and the conversion of TP patterns among which the simple linear pattern is mostly-used.