Abstracts
Abstract
The objective of this paper is to see how the Chinese tenor as exhibited by the use of titles and honorifics in the classic novel Hong Lou Meng is translated in its five English versions. I shall compare the translations of several dialogues from the novel with special reference to the tenor-markers. By adopting House’s interpersonal equivalence as a criterion to measure the social distance and power between the dyads as shown by the tenor in both the SL conversations and their respective TL versions, I shall investigate the relationship between the interpersonal equivalence that is acquired in the TT and the strategies that are adopted to translate the dialogues. The argument put forward here is that in order to produce a translation that not only reads fluently but also retains the linguistic and cultural features of a foreign literary work, foreignising should be adopted as a mainstream rather than exclusive strategy, with assistance drawn from domesticating solutions.
Keywords/Mots-clés:
- tenor,
- titles,
- honorifics,
- interpersonal equivalence,
- cultural features,
- translation strategies,
- domesticating,
- foreignising
Résumé
L’article cherche à montrer comment le ténor chinois, tel qu’il est présenté par des titres et des formules de politesse dans le roman classique Hong Lou Meng, est traduit dans cinq versions anglaises. Je comparerai les traductions des dialogues du roman avec une référence spéciale aux traits spécifiques des ténors. En adoptant l’équivalence interpersonnelle de House comme critère pour mesurer la distance et le pouvoir social entre le dyade tel qu’il est décrit dans les conversations en langue-source et leurs versions respectives dans la langue-cible. J’examinerai le rapport entre l’équivalence interpersonnelle acquise dans le texte-cible et les stratégies adoptées pour traduire les dialogues. L’objectif est de produire une traduction qui se lit facilement, et qui retient aussi les traits linguistiques et culturels d’un travail littéraire étranger. L’étrangéisation devrait être adoptée comme principe au lieu d’une stratégie exclusive de domestication des textes.
Appendices
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