摘 要

2012年，莫言荣获诺贝尔文学奖，作为中国首次获得此荣誉的作家，他的文学创作能力毫无疑问值得肯定的。但他的成功不仅得益于他个人的文学能力，在中国当代作家中，他的作品被翻译成外语的数量最多。通过翻译，他的作品得以被世界读者所知，译者的重要性不言而喻。葛浩文是莫言作品的主要英译者。红高粱是他翻译的第一本莫言的小说，也是迄今为止在他翻译莫言作品中销量最好，最受西方读者喜爱的小说。

基于对葛译红高粱的研究，本文介绍了葛浩文的翻译风格，文章从红高粱这一译作入手，主要从文化层面和语篇层面来分析他的翻译风格。其中文化层面又分为谚语与成语，诗歌与歌曲。语篇层面则由段落，句子和遣词造句三个层面组成。文中列举了具体的例子，将葛译版本和莫言的原文进行对比讨论，进而了解葛浩文的翻译方法和策略。此外，葛浩文的翻译观以及文学翻译界对于他独特的翻译风格的评价也有所提及。最后文章得出：葛浩文独具特色的翻译风格使其赢得市场与口碑，也助莫言赢得世界声誉。

关键词：红高粱；葛浩文；翻译风格.

Abstract

In 2012, Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize in Literature. As a first Chinese writer obtaining this honor, his ability in literary creation is undoubtedly worthy of affirmation. However, his success not only benefits from his personal literary creation ability, but also the translators’ efforts. Among the contemporary Chinese writers, his work is the most frequently to be translated into foreign languages. By translation, his talent can be known to readers all over the world. The importance of the translator’s effort is self-evident. Goldblatt is the main English translator of Mo Yan’s works. Red Sorghum is his first version of Mo Yan’s novels, and it becomes the most popular novel in Western market so far.

Based on the study of Howard Goldblatt’s version of Red Sorghum, this paper introduces the translation style of Howard Goldblatt. From the aspect of the cultural level and textual level, this article analyzes his translation style. The cultural level is divided into proverb and idiom, poetry and song. The textual level is divided into paragraph, sentence as well as word. To provide a convincing analysis, some specific examples are given in the discussion. Comparing the Goldblatt’s English version and Mo Yan’s original novel, this study focuses on the translation methods and strategies of Howard Goldblatt. In addition, Goldblatt’s view of translation and remarks in his evaluation of his translation style from the field of literary translation are also mentioned. Finally, this paper points out that it is Goldblatt’s unique translation style that helps him to win the market and public praise and also contributes to the reputation of Mo Yan in the world.

Key Words: Red Sorghum; Howard Goldblatt; translation style.

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Aim and significant of study 1

1.2 Structure and arrangement 2

2 Literature Review 3

2.1 Previous studies on translation style 3

2.2 Previous studies on Howard Goldblatt’s translation 3

3 Goldblatt’s View of Translation 5

3.1 Fidelity: faithfulness to author’s meaning 5

3.2 Creativity: translation for target readers 5

3.3 Fidelity and creativity: translating plus rewriting 6

4 Case Study of Howard Goldblatt’s Translation of Red Sorghum 8

4.1 Mo Yan and his Red Sorghum 8

4.2 Fidelity and creativity at culture level 8

4.2.1 Proverb and idiom 9

4.2.2 Poem and song 10

4.3 Fidelity and creativity at textual level 11

4.3.1 Discussion in paragraph level 12

4.3.1 Discussion in sentence level 13

4.3.2 Discussion in word level 14

4.4 Limitation in Howard Goldblatt’s translation 15

4.5 Remark on Howard Goldblatt’s translation 15

5 Conclusion 17

References 18

Acknowledgements 19

A Study of Howard Goldblatt’s Translation Style by Analyzing the Version of Red Sorghum

1 Introduction

Aim and significant of study

In 2012, Mo Yan, a leading contemporary Chinese writer, became the country’s first Nobel laureate in literature. His work Red Sorghum, translated for the English target readership by a well-known translator, Howard Goldblatt, remains one of his best-known works. According to Goldblatt, Red Sorghum is the best selling English translation in Mo Yan’s novels. (Ji, 2009: 47). This research provides a case study of the novel to analysis the translation strategies and decisions Goldblatt used in the process of translating.

Focusing on the comparison of the original text and Goldblatt’s English version, this paper aims to study Howard Goldblatt’s translation style. Goldblatt, as a famous Sinologist and influential contemporary Chinese literary translator, he is also given the label of prolific. Goldblatt translated more than 10 works of Mo Yan to English readers. They are Red Sorghum, Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out, Big Breasts and Wide Hips, etc. As mentioned above, among these brilliant translations, the English version Red Sorghum has made a great success in sale, to get a better understanding about Goldblatt’s translation, a case study about Red Sorghum is examined in detail in this paper.

The study of this work is important because of several factors. To begin with, in his writing career of more than 20 years, Mo Yan has been impacting the Chinese contemporary literary arena with his unique words and imagination. There is no doubt that Red Sorghum deserves a thoroughly analysis. Moreover, Mo Yan is the first Chinese national to be awarded the coveted honor, the Nobel Prize in literature. It is the translation that sets up a bridge to various languages and cultures. Thus, not only does the success of Goldblatt’s translation conduce to the field of Chinese-English literature translation, but also promote the go global strategy of Chinese literary (Peng, 2014).

Structure and arrangement

The paper is organized as follows: the first part described the introduction of the whole paper and previous studies about translation style and Goldblatt’s translation. The second part illustrates Goldblatt’s unique perspectives applied in the process of translating. Briefly speaking, his view of translation which can be concluded in fidelity and creativity is introduced. As for the most important section of this article, based on the comparison of Mo Yan’s original novel and Goldblatt’s English version, the translation style in specific context is analyzed. Finally, there is a conclusion for this research.2 Literature Review

2.1 Previous studies on translation style

Although the activity of translating began in much earlier age than people’s imagination, the exact record about it appeared later. Likewise, the term translation style was first recorded in a book Essay on the Principles of Translation written by A. F. Tytler in 1790 (Li, 2009: 128). He put forward his thought about the relationship between the translation style and the original, namely, the translated work’s style and the original one, but he didn't offer an exact definition of it.