On the Over-translation and Under-translation in The Garlic Ballads : A Perspective of Functional Translation Theory

Abstract This paper examines the phenomena of over-translations and under-translations in the novel The Garlic Ballads in the perspective of functional translation theory. This novel is written by the Chinese writer Mo Yan and translated into English by the American translator Howard Goldblatt, which is given a warm welcome by Westerners. However, over-translations and under-translations exist in quantities in the English translation which are seemingly translation deficiency. By the means of close reading, the research tries to reveal: (1) both over-translation and under-translation are unable to be avoided, and therefore they cannot be regarded as translation deficiency; (2) the English translation of The Garlic Ballads is made more expressive by appropriately applying the over-translation and under-translation strategies. In this sense, hopefully, the study will be of help to remove the deep-rooted misunderstandings about over-translation and under-translation in the academic community in China.47649

Keywords: The Garlic Ballads; over-translation; under-translation; equivalence

 从功能对等理论角度看《天堂蒜薹之歌》的超额翻译与欠额翻译

摘要本研究基于功能对等理论框架，对《天堂蒜薹之歌》英译本中的超额与欠额翻译现象进行分析。本文认为，译界常持的超额或欠额翻译即翻译过失这样的观点或有言过其实之处，通过精读文本与考察文献，研究希望能够得出以下两个结论：（1）欠额翻译与超额翻译在翻译中具有不可回避性，不能将其视为葛译《天堂蒜薹之歌》小说的缺憾；（2）葛浩文通过适用超额与欠额翻译策略，更好地表达了原著意图。

毕业论文关键词：《天堂蒜薹之歌》；超额翻译；欠额翻译；对等

 Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 The Rationale and the Significance of the Proposal 1

1. 2 Research Background 1

1. 3 Research Question 2

1. 4 Theoretical Framework 2

1. 3. 1 Functional Translation Theory 2

1. 3. 2 The Definitions of Over-translation and Under-translation 3

1. 5 Research Methodology 3

2. The Function of Over-translation and Under-translation in the Respect of Lexical Equivalence 3

2. 1 Developing Vividness 3

2. 2 Developing Conciseness 4

3. The Function of Over-translation and Under-translation in the Respect of Syntactical Equivalence 5

3. 1 Producing Conciseness 5

3. 2 Producing Intelligibility 6

3. 3 Constructing Expressiveness 6

4. The Function of Over-translation and Under-translation in the Respect of Semantic Equivalence 7

4.1 Producing Semantic Explicitness 7

4.2 Developing Semantic Vividness 9

4. 3 Producing Semantic Foreshadowing 9

4. 4 Developing Stylistic Terseness 10

5. The Function of Over-translation and Under-translation in the Respect of Stylistic Equivalence 11

5. 1 Developing Faithfulness