A Corpus-based Study On The Translators’ Styles As Reflected In The Two English Versions Of Luotuo Xiangzi

Luotuo Xiangzi,Lao She’s masterpiece,has been translated into various languages since it was published.It has promoted the spread of Chinese culture.The thesis studies translations of Shi Xiaojing and Howard Goldblatt and further compares the two translators’ linguistic styles.To render a systematic and convictive study,quantitative and qualitative methods are adopted.The thesis is based on the theoretical framework of descriptive translation studies(DTS)and corpus-based translation studies(CTS).Three corpuses have been built up,including the Chinese original text Luotuo Xiangzi,and two translations by Shi Xiaojing and Howard Goldblatt respectively.A quantitative analysis is employed on lexical,syntactic and textual levels.The analysis on lexical level involves type/token ratio,high-frequency words and unique words.The analysis of syntactic features covers average sentence length,sentence types and the beginning of a sentence.And the analysis on the textual level focuses on coherence devices.Moreover,a qualitative study is carried out by combining stylistics.It studies specific translation strategies adopted by the two translators in dealing with culture-loaded words,idioms and proverbs,figures of speech,thought presentation and paratexts.In the end,the thesis analyzes the formative mechanism of translators’ styles from internal and external factors,like socio-cultural background and the translators’ subjectivity.By comparing the two translations from different aspects,it is demonstrated that Howard Goldblatt’s translation focuses more on the introduction of Chinese culture.His translation is more flexible and easier to read.In his translation,he usually adopts foreignization in explaining culture-loaded words.Shi’s translation attempts to maintain the original text.When translating culture-loaded words,she usually uses domestication.The stylistic differences between the two translators are the results of the cultural background,translators’ subjectivity and so on.