Narrative Framing In Novel Translation

This report analyzes the translation of the first chapter of Echo,which serves as the source material for this Chinese to English translation practice.The source text is a detective novel with intricate characters,compelling plot,and strict logic.Based on a suspicious case,Echo depicts the complexity of the events and the entanglements between the characters,prompting the reader to think about the intricacies of human nature.With the aim of providing target readers with a full understanding of the cultural context and an appreciation of the semantic meaning of the novel,the translator addresses the difficulties in translating the novel Echo based on four narrative features of Mona Baker’s narrative theory: temporality,causal emplotment,selective appropriation,and relationality,and then investigates specific narrative framing strategies in the English translation of Echo.These strategies include spatial and temporal framing,selective appropriation,framing by labelling,and repositioning of participants.First,the translator adopts methods of using temporal markers and minimizing temporal differences for different situations in order to reproduce the temporal and spatial narrative of the translation.The translator also pays attention to the shift in spatial focus,either emphasizing physical space or highlighting perceived psychological space.Second,the translator makes intentional additions or omissions in the translated text’s content in accordance with source text’s features in order to suppress,highlight or elaborate the narrative implicit in the original text or the narrative of a higher level.Third,to achieve the reframing of labels,the translator applies the translation tactics of explicitation,adaptation and retention in response to the frequent use of metaphorical words and Internet buzzwords throughout the novel.Lastly,the translator shifts deictic expressions and adds paratextual commentary to alter the relationship between the participants,thus promoting their active participation in the reframing of the narrative.As such,the narrative theory seems to provide a practical guideline for translating literary works,leading the translator to reproduce or reframe the novel’s narrative style in terms of story,plot,and discourse as much as feasible in the translation.Through this translation practice,the translator has been more aware of the value and challenges of narrative framing in the translation of novels and has also developed a greater grasp of the process of literary translation.The exploration of the translation technique of framing a novel’s narrative in this practice report,in the translator’s opinion,can serve as a useful guide for other translators or academics working on similar texts.