A Study On Thick Translation In Li Jihong’s Chinese Version Of The Sound And The Fury

Translation is not simply a linguistic transfer but more often than not involves the communication and clash of different cultures.As a literary icon of American South,Faulkner has created his Yoknapatawpha series.The Sound and the Fury,Faulkner’s representative work,is deeply rooted in American South and abounds with unique southern traditions and cultural elements.Meanwhile,as a stream-of-consciousness novel,The Sound and the Fury is obscure for its narrative mode and style.How to present southern culture and preserve stream-of-consciousness style and at the same time ensure the understanding and reception of the target text is a challenge faced by the translator of the novel.As is known to all,foreignization strategy can maintain the source text features and heterogeneous culture,but it may form reading obstacles;domestication strategy ensures smooth reading and better reception of the target text,but it could be criticized for erasing the source text features.Thus thick translation can play the mediating role.In Li Jihong’s translation of Sound and the Fury,he has utilized various paratextual devices such as reading guide,notes and appendices,which have achieved what Appiah calls "thick translation".Thick translation theory proposes that translators should resort to notes and glosses to locate the target text into a rich linguistic and cultural context so that target readers can better appreciate and respect heterogeneous culture.The translator’s 23-page reading guide gives readers a panoramic view of modernist literature,William Faulkner and his writings as well as the translator’s translation strategy.Detailed notes work at micro level,falling into four categories including elucidation of culture-loaded expressions,introduction of characters,explication of meaning and plots as well as analysis of Faulkner’s writing techniques.Appendices attached by the translator serve instrumental functions,sorting out the timeline of the novel and helping target text readers disentangle the complicated and fragmented storyline.The present thesis consists of five chapters.Chapter one gives an overall introduction to the research background,research significance as well as structure of the present study.Chapter two is a literature review of previous studies on the Chinese translation of the novel as well as the theoretical framework for thick translation and an analytical framework for the present thesis.Chapter three and chapter four are the body parts.The author will firstly conduct a detailed study on thick translation phenomena in Li Jihong’s Chinese version of The Sound and the Fury and then explore the motivations behind Li’s thick translation including translation purpose,intended readership and text type.Lastly the author will summarize how thick translation can shed light on the translation of stream-of-consciousness novels via the case study.As a notion for literary translation,thick translation can provide a context for better understanding of the source text,highlight the rich cultural elements in the source text and increase translator’s visibility.However,it doesn’t mean the thicker the better.Just like what Martha Cheung believes,thick translation has double meaning.In translating stream-of-consciousness novels,too much explication from the translator may weaken the obscure beauty of the source text and limit readers’ interpretations.Thus,translators of stream-of-consciousness novels need to be cautious when resorting to thick translation and make proper choices.Chapter five is the conclusion,summarizing the findings and limitations of the present thesis as well as suggestions for future studies.The present research hopes to enrich the existing studies on the Chinese translation of The Sound and the Fury and provide reference for the translation and introduction of other stream-of-consciousness novels.