The data is collected throughout a lengthy period of reading, roughly five months. About a hundred pieces of over-translations and under-translations are identified, providing an extensive database. The thesis presents several representative cases in a bid to verify the expressiveness and fidelity brought about by over- and under-translation strategies. 

2. The Function of Over-translation and Under-translation in the Respect of Lexical Equivalence

2. 1 Developing Vividness 

Lexical over-translations are usually seen in Goldblatt’s translation of The Garlic Ballads as phrases representing one Chinese word. They contribute to the establishment of vividness in the target text in terms of making the inner feelings of characters exaggerated. Although seemingly unfaithful towards the source text, these over-translations help to grasp its semantic core.  

“在堂屋里，他蹲在一张矮桌前，耷拉着两撇吊梢眉毛，端起一碗蒜薹汤，克制着从胃底泛上来的恶心，刚要伸嘴强喝，就听到从虚掩的破旧院门外，传来一声焦灼的吼叫。” (p. 2)

“Gao Yang, whose eyebrows sloped downward at the ends, was squatting alongside a table, holding a bowl of garlic broth and fighting back the waves of nausea rising from his stomach. The urgent shout had come in through his unlatched gate as he was about to take a sip of the broth.” (p. 1)

The word 恶心, which literally means a nausea coming from a person’s stomach, or simply, nausea in the context, is over-translated into waves of nausea. This piece of over-translation helps the target text to become vivid. 

The semantic core of the source text is to express the repulse Gao Yang suffered when he sampled the garlic soup again. Waves of nausea makes readers feel like that they were standing offshore at a sea of something loathsome, watching waves of it flooding over. It is a visual shock of disgust. Compared with metaphrasing it as “the nausea rising from his stomach”, the over-translation makes readers impressed with Gao Yang’s strong sense of repulse. This piece of over-translation grasps the core of the source text and express it in a graphic way. 

2. 2 Developing Conciseness

Lexical under-translations are usually not as concrete and detailed as the target text in Goldblatt’s translation of The Garlic Ballads. However, they do not influence the establishment of the same semantic core as the source text. Besides, by using fewer words but more authentic English expressions, these under-translations make the target text terse in style.