文体和翻译 文学翻译.docVIP

Literary Translation I. Aesthetic Progression in Literary Translation Traditional approaches tend to view translation as an activity concerning only interlingual transfer, and there are only three requirements for translators to perform their job successfully: a) familiarity with the source language, b) familiarity with the target language, and c) familiarity with the subject matter. With the deepening of translation studies, however, such statements hold little water. In literary translation practice, the change of one language into another is only the surface work, while the transfer of artistic images ranks first in the translator’s job. Therefore, the aesthetic value of the source language should be given priority to, and the process of literary translation should be regarded as aesthetic progression between two different languages and cultures achieved through the translator’s actualization of the original image. Aesthetic Progression and Image-Actualization The possession of aesthetic qualities is a necessary condition of the literary text. But these qualities are not given as ready-made or finally formed realities, but as possibilities or inherent images for realization, waiting to be actualized in the interaction with the translator Example: In her eagerness she rose and supported herself on the arm of the chair. At that earnest appeal he turned to her, looking absolutely desperate. His eyes, wide and wet, at last flashed fiercely on her; his breast heaved convulsively. An instant they held asunder, and then how they met I hardly saw, but Catherine made a spring, and he caught her, and they were locked in an embrace from which I thought my mistress would never be released alive: in fact, to my eyes, she seemed directly insensible. He flung himself into the nearest seat, and on my approaching hurriedly to ascertain if she had fainted, he gnashed at me, and foamed like a mad dog, and gathered her to him with greedy jealousy. I did not feel as if I were in th