Chinese-to-English Translation Study Of Speech Presentation From The Perspective Of Narratology

Based on the case study of translation of the Chinese short story “Saturday”,the present thesis discusses the application of the theory of Narratology in the translation of speech presentations in Chinese fiction.Speech presentations in fiction are important ways of characterization and manipulation of narrative rhythm.The analyses of speech presentations in a fiction under the guidance of Narratology are conducive to understanding different speech presentations.The present thesis conducts a systematic analysis of the translation techniques of speech presentations in Chinese fiction applying the theory of Narratology in to the translation practice.Speech presentations in the target text are consistent with the source text in most cases.However,some speech presentations can be different from the original ones when specific purposes are to be reached,for example,to speed up the narration,highlight the characteristics of characters,alleviate readers' pressure on understanding,maintain the original style of writhing and narration,and enhance the readability of target text.Specific findings are as follows:Firstly,if the content of indirect speech is too long after the reporting verb,the core of the context changes,and the weight of speech shifts from the narrator to the character,the indirect speech can be translated into free indirect speech,direct speech,or even free direct speech.In this way,the narrator's voice is weakened,emotional gap between readers and the character is shortened and the effect of expression is strengthened.Secondly,if the direct speech lies in an indirect narrative context,with fast narrative rhythm and short direct speech content which does not shape the character,the direct speech can be converted into narrative report of speech act or indirect speech to speed up the narrative rhythm and maintain the conciseness of the original text.Thirdly,speech presentation of “blend” is unique in Chinese,so specific context should be analyzed in the translation process.If the voice of the character is more prominent,the “blend” should be translated into direct speech or free direct speech;while the narrative rhythm is fast and the characters are less important in the context,the blend should be translated into indirect speech or free indirect speech to speed up the rhythm of speech and enhance the economy of the translation.Lastly,different techniques are used in the translation of the content of speech presentations in Chinese fiction.Foreignization,domestication,explicitness,omission and restructuring are mainly employed in this thesis.Among them,domestication is used to convey the unique Chinese colloquialisms and idioms in the source text to the readers of English.Explicitness is used to strengthen the logic in the target text via adding logical words and omission cuts the redundancy of the source text and makes the translation more readable.Restructuring integrates run-on sentences in the source text and transforms them into sentences that accord with expressions in English.