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Abstract: How to translate a writer’s style is considered to be one of the most sensitive, complicated and controversial issues in literary translation. This paper explores the translatability of style and the role translator plays in literary translation, analyses reasons of the style reappearance and loss in literary translation and aims at arriving at the conclusion that faithfulness to the original style belongs to criteria of translation.
Key words: style stylistic markers literary translation
Chapter 1 Introduction
Whether style is translatable is a vexed issue that has been discussed for many years in translation circle. There are mainly two kinds of different kinds of views: one holds that the original style is untranslatable while the other thinks that style is translatable. However, the majority of translation theorists hold that the original style is translatable. Professor Liu Miqing, in his book Contemporary Theories of Translation, he has pointed out that style is not intangible but recognizable through correctly and comprehensively spotting and analyzing stylistic markers and transferring them into target language. Style translation is one of the major tasks encountered by translators. Chinese translation theorist Yan Fu has put forward the famous three principles of translation, that is, faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance. His theory equals Liu Zhongde’s the trinity principle of faithfulness, expressiveness and closeness. As professor Liu Zhongde says,“true translation demands that the translator be faithful to the content, linguistic form and style of the original at the same time”(劉重德 1995：32). They all advocate that a successful translation requires the faithfulness to the content as well as the style of the original works. Besides Chinese translators, some foreign theorists like Alexander Fraser Tytler, also put forward the principle of translation. In his book Principles of Translation, he points out that the style and manner of writing should be of the same character as that of the original. Style translation is very crucial to literary translation. Ideally, faithfully representing the original style of literary works is the highest level of translation, since literature is the art of language, creative use of language and literary language has special aesthetic value and the transferring of that value is of great importance and necessity in translating literary works. The original style can be successfully reproduced as long as the translator accurately spot the formal markers and non-formal markers manifested through the linguistic forms of a piece of writing. A complete and correct understanding of the stylistic markers is of great importance towards transferring them in the target language. Many translators have created large amount of wonderful translation versions, which is a forceful prove to the style reappearance in literary translation.
Chapter 2 The Definition of Style
2.About Style
Style is an important factor in translation and we have to make sure what style is. However, the term style itself has no fixed definition. The word style can be traced back to ancient Greek“stylus”with the original meaning“scorper”shifting to the meaning“characteristic manner of expression in writing or speech”. In Chinese language the word style is firstly used to describe the manner and character of a person and late be employed exclusively to the way of expression of a particular writer or a piece of writing. There is a saying going like this “the style is the man”. Likely, France writer Buffon once said“style is the writer himself”.Obviously, the study of style has a long history.
Chapter 3 The Translatability of Style
3. Overall Review of the Translatability of Style
Over many years, some translators think style is untranslatable since style is dependent on language, however, different languages bear different natures of language, such as the word formation, syntactic structure, figures of speech, etc. however, the majority of translators hold that style is not intangible, but recognizable through analysis of conspicuous linguistic forms peculiar of a writer or a piece of writing. Translation theorist Liu Miqing, in his book Contemporary Theories of Translation, has pointed out that we can recognize style through spotting the stylistic features, that is stylistic markers, and that has classified stylistic markers into two categories: formal markers and non-formal markers. Formal markers are various linguistic forms characteristic of a writer or a piece of writing. They can be subdivided into 1) phonological markers, 2) registerial markers, 3) lexical markers, 4) syntactic markers, 5) textual markers, and 6) rhetorical markers (or markers of figures of speech). Non-formal markers include 1) ways of expression, 2) subject matter, and 3) ideological contents.
Original text: I chanced to rise very early one particular morning this summer, and took a walk into the county to divert myself among the fields and meadows, while the green was new, and the flowers in their bloom. As at this season of the year every lane is a beautiful walk, and every hedge full of nosegays, I lost myself, with a great deal of pleasure, among several thickets and bushes that are filled with a great variety of birds, and an agreeable confusion of notes, which formed the pleasantest scene in the world to one who had passed a whole winter in noise and smoke. (Joseph Addison: Tulips)
Bibliography
[1] Leech, Geoffrey N,
Key words: style stylistic markers literary translation
Chapter 1 Introduction
Whether style is translatable is a vexed issue that has been discussed for many years in translation circle. There are mainly two kinds of different kinds of views: one holds that the original style is untranslatable while the other thinks that style is translatable. However, the majority of translation theorists hold that the original style is translatable. Professor Liu Miqing, in his book Contemporary Theories of Translation, he has pointed out that style is not intangible but recognizable through correctly and comprehensively spotting and analyzing stylistic markers and transferring them into target language. Style translation is one of the major tasks encountered by translators. Chinese translation theorist Yan Fu has put forward the famous three principles of translation, that is, faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance. His theory equals Liu Zhongde’s the trinity principle of faithfulness, expressiveness and closeness. As professor Liu Zhongde says,“true translation demands that the translator be faithful to the content, linguistic form and style of the original at the same time”(劉重德 1995：32). They all advocate that a successful translation requires the faithfulness to the content as well as the style of the original works. Besides Chinese translators, some foreign theorists like Alexander Fraser Tytler, also put forward the principle of translation. In his book Principles of Translation, he points out that the style and manner of writing should be of the same character as that of the original. Style translation is very crucial to literary translation. Ideally, faithfully representing the original style of literary works is the highest level of translation, since literature is the art of language, creative use of language and literary language has special aesthetic value and the transferring of that value is of great importance and necessity in translating literary works. The original style can be successfully reproduced as long as the translator accurately spot the formal markers and non-formal markers manifested through the linguistic forms of a piece of writing. A complete and correct understanding of the stylistic markers is of great importance towards transferring them in the target language. Many translators have created large amount of wonderful translation versions, which is a forceful prove to the style reappearance in literary translation.
Chapter 2 The Definition of Style
2.About Style
Style is an important factor in translation and we have to make sure what style is. However, the term style itself has no fixed definition. The word style can be traced back to ancient Greek“stylus”with the original meaning“scorper”shifting to the meaning“characteristic manner of expression in writing or speech”. In Chinese language the word style is firstly used to describe the manner and character of a person and late be employed exclusively to the way of expression of a particular writer or a piece of writing. There is a saying going like this “the style is the man”. Likely, France writer Buffon once said“style is the writer himself”.Obviously, the study of style has a long history.
Chapter 3 The Translatability of Style
3. Overall Review of the Translatability of Style
Over many years, some translators think style is untranslatable since style is dependent on language, however, different languages bear different natures of language, such as the word formation, syntactic structure, figures of speech, etc. however, the majority of translators hold that style is not intangible, but recognizable through analysis of conspicuous linguistic forms peculiar of a writer or a piece of writing. Translation theorist Liu Miqing, in his book Contemporary Theories of Translation, has pointed out that we can recognize style through spotting the stylistic features, that is stylistic markers, and that has classified stylistic markers into two categories: formal markers and non-formal markers. Formal markers are various linguistic forms characteristic of a writer or a piece of writing. They can be subdivided into 1) phonological markers, 2) registerial markers, 3) lexical markers, 4) syntactic markers, 5) textual markers, and 6) rhetorical markers (or markers of figures of speech). Non-formal markers include 1) ways of expression, 2) subject matter, and 3) ideological contents.
Original text: I chanced to rise very early one particular morning this summer, and took a walk into the county to divert myself among the fields and meadows, while the green was new, and the flowers in their bloom. As at this season of the year every lane is a beautiful walk, and every hedge full of nosegays, I lost myself, with a great deal of pleasure, among several thickets and bushes that are filled with a great variety of birds, and an agreeable confusion of notes, which formed the pleasantest scene in the world to one who had passed a whole winter in noise and smoke. (Joseph Addison: Tulips)
Bibliography
[1] Leech, Geoffrey N,