Stylistic nuances through syntactic complexity: A corpus-assisted study of narration and dialogue in two english translations of Hongloumeng

IF 2.1
Yifeng Sun , Kanglong Liu
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Hongloumeng (also known as The Story of the Stone or A Dream of Red Mansions), a significant work in Chinese literature, along with its various English translations has been the subject of substantial scholarly attention. Among these, the two translated versions by David Hawkes and John Minford, and Xianyi Yang and Gladys Yang, have garnered much academic interest and sparked extensive discussions. However, there remains a significant void in the thorough analysis of syntactic complexity, a crucial aspect of their respective distinct translation styles. This study aims to address this gap by conducting a meticulous examination of the syntactic complexity in the first 80 chapters of the novel, as translated by Hawkes and the Yangs, with a specific focus on the subgenres of narration and dialogue. The analysis reveals substantial disparities, such as Hawkes employing longer linguistic units in narration and a higher frequency of subordinations in dialogue. By emphasizing the importance of syntactic complexity within the realm of translation style, this study advocates for integrating metrics that assess syntactic complexity in future explorations related to translation styles. The implications of these findings for enhancing translation research and pedagogy are also discussed.
从句法复杂性看文体的细微差别:《红楼梦》两个英译本的叙事和对话的语料库分析
红楼梦(也被称为《石头的故事》或《红楼梦》),是中国文学的一部重要作品,连同它的各种英译本一直是学术界关注的主题。其中,大卫·霍克斯和约翰·明福德的两个译本,以及杨先义和杨格拉迪斯的两个译本引起了学术界的广泛关注和讨论。然而,对句法复杂性的深入分析仍然是一个明显的空白,句法复杂性是他们各自独特的翻译风格的一个重要方面。本研究旨在通过对霍克斯和杨氏翻译的小说前80章的句法复杂性进行细致的研究,并特别关注叙事和对话的子类型,来解决这一差距。分析表明,霍克斯在叙述中使用了更长的语言单位,在对话中使用了更频繁的从属关系。通过强调句法复杂性在翻译风格领域的重要性,本研究主张在未来与翻译风格相关的探索中整合评估句法复杂性的指标。本文还讨论了这些发现对加强翻译研究和翻译教学的意义。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Applied Corpus Linguistics
Applied Corpus Linguistics Linguistics and Language
CiteScore
1.30
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70 days
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