Abstract: Satire has long been considered a very difficult and complex translating task, and some critics have claimed that the satire in the English novel of Pride and Prejudice has been over-translated, under-translated, mistranslated, and even lost. Therefore, the research aims to seek some proper strategies in translating a satirical novel.
In order to obtain this goal, the research compares two Chinese versions with the original text of Pride and Prejudice. The two Chinese versions are translated by Wang Keyi (王科一) published in 1956 and by Sun Zhili (孙致礼) in 2010. From the perspective of functional equivalence, the writer has selected thirty English satirical sentences from the English novel and sixty sentences from the two Chinese versions and compares each example in detail under four strategies: (1) adding words, (2) changing the position of some phrases, (3) changing phrases into sentences, and (4) use of four-character phrases. The writer also tries to discern the differences and the similarities between the two Chinese versions, and decides which one reflects more closely the criterion of functional equivalence. In addition, the writer evaluates whether the four strategies apply to translating the satirical tone of the English novel.
From the analysis of the data, it becomes obvious that Wang Keyi’s (王科一) version is, most of time, formally equivalent. Formal equivalence entails the literal meaning of the original text and appears awkward, over-translated, under-translated and even mistranslated. The writer speculates that this is partly because of the limited reference materials available at the time of the translation, the socio-political situation, and inadequate personal experience. Generally, Sun Zhili’s (孙致礼) version tends to be functionally equivalent and more natural and closer to the original than Wang’s. Sun’s version is indeed very successful due to his unremitting efforts, wealth of experience and access to modern theories and resources. It has also been proved that the four strategies are employed by both translators in translating the satirical tone of the source text.
Although the research offers better strategies in translating a satirical novel and helps the translator to provide the closest and most natural translation to the target readers, some limitations of this paper will be presented in the conclusion.
Keywords: satire; functional equivalence; translation strategies; comparative study.
Title: A Comparative Study of Satire Translation in Two Chinese Versions of Pride and Prejudice
Author: Li Hong Qing
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3164 (online), ISSN 2348-3156 (Print)
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