A Report On English-Chinese Translation Of Excerpts From Playing In The Light From The Perspective Of Adaptation Theory

Different from the Africa described by occidental writers,the Africa native writers write Africa from a more real and free perspective and utilize literature to make a complaint against injustice in society which have an effect on the international literature.Last year,one African novel won the Nobel Prize in literature,which verifies the value of African literary works.As the culture exchange and the relationship between China and Africa deepening constantly,the fact that translating the African novel produced by African writer can provide a way for knowing history and culture of Africa.The translation material is drawn from Zo? Wicomb’s novel,Playing in the Light.Setting the history of south Africa,this novel focuses on the colored people under apartheid policy and unfolds the uneasiness of them brought by the apartheid through the story that Marion,the main character in the novel,searches for her identity.As one of Wicomb’s three famous novels against the backdrop of the apartheid era,the novel has attracted extensive research by foreign scholars,but less attention has been paid to it in China.The author hopes that the study of the translation of this novel can promote the study of translation of African novel in the future.Adaptation theory is a linguistic theory founded by Belgian linguist Jef Verschueren,which points out that in the process of language use,communicators will make corresponding language conformity behaviors according to the specific contexts in which the language is used.In this report,three dimensions of the theory,namely,linguistic context,communicative context and linguistic structure are utilized to analyze the typical examples of the novel.The author translates the novel through translation methods or strategies such as semantic extension,transliteration with notes and liberal translation in order to translate more accurately.This report shows that in the process of translation,the selection of expressions should be in line with the linguistic context and communicative context.Besides,expressions should conform to the language structure of the target language.Adaptation theory can guide to translate African novels.It is conducive to understand the background and historical information of novels,which can strengthen the translator’s in-depth understanding of the target text and moreover,enhance the readability of the target text.