A Study Of Julia Lovell'S English Translation Of A Dictionary Of Maqiao From The Perspective Of Newmark'S Text-Type Theory

Han Shaogong's Maqiao Cidian is a successful subversion of the traditional novel style.It uses the vernacular to subvert the people's daily language to reveal a world that the local people are not even aware of in their daily life.This subversion is the transformation of dialect notes into the structure of the novel itself,thus making it difficult to translate.However,Julia Lovell,with her high proficiency in translation and her deep understanding of the Chinese literature and historical culture,has successfully translated this novel into English.Therefore,both Han Shaogong's Maqiao Cidian and Julia Lovell's English translation,A Dictionary of Maqiao are well worth reading and studying,and both of them have been well received by the academe home and abroad.Through qualitative research methods,such as document retrieval,exemplification method and summarized method,and with Peter Newmark's text-type theory as a framework which is based on the following three text types,namely,expressive text,informative text and vocative text,and two translation methods like semantic translation and communicative translation,the author intends to make a study of the English version of A Dictionary of Maqiao and analyze the application of semantic translation and communicative translation in Julia Lovell's English version,A Dictionary of Maqiao.In light of this,this thesis mainly focuses on three questions:(1)How were the three types of text dealt with by Julia Lovell in the process of translating Maqiao Cidian?(2)How were the semantic translation and communicative translation presented by Julia Lovell in her translation version of A Dictionary of Maqiao?(3)What are the major factors that influence Julia Lovell's choice when she was in the process of translation?The study finds that:(1)When dealing with the expressive texts,the translator Julia Lovell chooses semantic translation and tries to keep as many as features of the source language and cultural elements as possible;when it comes to informative and vocative texts,the translator Julia Lovell prefers communicative translation to semantic translation,trying every possible to make the target reader understand easily.(2)Peter Newmark's translation methods and text-type classification are of great flexibility and usefulness in guiding the translation process.If the translator can first judge which text type it belongs to and then choose a translation method,semantic translation or communicative translation or both when necessary,then the cultural elements,ideas and values of the original text will be reproduced maximally in the target language.A comprehensive and meticulous explanation of Maqiao Cidian and its English translation version A Dictionary of Maqiao through Newmark's text-type theory can help the Western countries to better understand the Chinese dialect culture,the Chinese countryside and even China in that period from 1960 s to 1980 s.Besides,the summarized translation experience can serve as a reference for the translation of similar dictionary-style novels,and for the “going-out” of the Chinese translators and the Chinese culture.