Another problem with science fiction translation is mechanical translation, which dulls the forms and contents of the target text。 It usually cannot produce a good translation of a text due to the lack of recognition of whole phrases and their closest counterparts in the target language。 Source text’s complexity, translator’s subjectivity, and the adopted translation strategy all determine the quality of science fiction translation。
1。2。2 The Prominence of the English Version of Folding Beijing
Folding Beijing follows the protagonist, Lao Dao, as he tries to navigate the complicated class barriers of a futuristic Beijing in order to send his adopted daughter to a top notched kindergarten。 The novel is closely related to the distinctive features of Chinese history and society therefore there is a variety of words and expressions which are hard to find proper substitutes in English language。 It requires translators to analyze the literary works from the perspective of cultures and to translate according to the features of the target language。
One characteristic of Ken’s translation is his carrying out explicitation in translation。 Translating texts cannot be limited to translating the explicit part of ideas and arguments; in translation the whole sense is to be taken into account and it is linked with grammar, stylistics, cultural context, situation and readers’ knowledge, etc。 The explicit part not only bears the stamp of the target language but also depends on the creative skills of the translator。 Ken Liu flexibly handles the implicit information from the original text and properly adds a few related words or sentences to make the rendition more clear and natural in the target language。
From the perspective of explicitation translation, what can be revealed is whether the translation can reflect the theme and aesthetic effects of the original text or not。 If used properly, explicitation can make a wonderful translation and a sound influence。 Ken Liu’s English version of Folding Beijing gains great popularity among western readers and is highly praised by personages of translating circles。 To find out the prominence of his translation, it is important to deeply analyze his method of Chinese-English translating and explore how he employs explicitation to deal with the original words and expressions from the cultural perspective。 来自优Y尔L论W文Q网wWw.YouERw.com 加QQ7520~18766
1。3 Main Content and Originalities
1。3。1 Layout of the Paper
This paper will be pided into five parts。 Chapter One is a whole introduction of the paper; it defines the scope of the study and presents the motivation and significance of the study。
Chapter Two makes a brief review of previous studies of science fiction translation in and out of China, exploring the theoretical background of current study。
Theoretical framework constitutes Chapter Three, which traces the theory of explicitation and studies of cultural translation and discusses the categorization of explicitation as well as the translation method to deal with the cultural elements in target language texts。
Chapter Four concentrates on data collection and quantitative analysis of the English version of Folding Beijing。 It will explain how different types of explicitation are employed in the science fiction from the perspective of Susan Bassnett’s cultural translation theory and presents how the translator settles the cross-cultural difficulties。论文网
The last chapter, Chapter Five serves as the conclusion of the paper, and limitations and suggestions for further study are also illustrated。
1。3。2 Originalities
With the acceleration of cross-cultural communication, the translation of literary works, especially Chinese to English translation, plays a more significant role。 This paper is aimed at exploring practical suggestions on how to translate similar novelettes through the analysis of translating methods in the science fiction Folding Beijing。