了不起的盖茨比.docx

Among American writers, F.Scott.Fitzgerald is crowned with the most credible achievement with his masterpiece The Great Gatsby, it published in 1925 ranks first in his novels for its profound thought, narrative techniques, well-knit structure and artistic appeal. In this novel, Fitzgerald vividly portrays the life of the Jazz Age and the images of the roaring twenties in U.S.A. And it has been translated to many versions. Id like to analysis the first three chapters of Deng Ruoxus version from the following several folds.1. Annotation for allusion A large number of allusions are used in The Great Gatsby. The allusions carry the important information in English. The author assumes that the readers share the common knowledge and similar background with him so they can comprehend the implied meaning of the text. However, the culture image of this is a blank in the target language so when translating this kind of allusion, the literal translation method with annotation is desirable. The target language readers could learn about the culture of the source language and new concepts and image are introduced into the target culture.Example1: I bought a dozen volumes on banking and credit and investment securities, and they stood on shelf in red and gold like new money from mint, promising to unfold for shining secret that only Midas and Morgan and Maecenas knew. 我买了十几本关于银行、信贷和投资证券的书，他们就像造纸厂新印的钱币一样，一本本红皮烫金立在书架上，等着为我揭开只有迈达斯、摩根、和米西纳斯才知道的赚钱秘诀。（1.希纳神话中的国王，曾经求神赐予点金术。 2. 约翰.皮尔庞特.摩根1837-1913 美国金融巨头 3. 盖乌斯.米西纳斯 前70-前8 古罗马政治家，富有而慷慨的文学赞助人。）(Deng Ruoxu)This sentence describes the great ambition of Nick when he first settled down in New York. The simile shows his desire to become rich and realize American dreams. Midas and Morgan and Maecenas are all exotic names that brings understanding difficulties to target readers. So Deng Ruoxu explains them in forms of footnotes so the concise style of the original text is kept and the fluency of reading is saved for the target readers.2. Annotation for names of places Example2: Hair shorn in strange new ways, and shawls beyond the dreams of Castile.女客们的发型新奇各异，披的纱巾也是卡斯蒂利亚人做梦都想不到的花色。（1.西班牙的一个产区，以产纱巾而闻名。）(Deng Ruoxu)This sentence describes the ladies who enjoy the party. Castile is a place largely produces shawls. This information could be very familiar to the source language readers but most Chinese people have no idea of the connection between this place and shawls. So the translators annotation of the feature of this city is very necessary.3. Annotation for language skills Example3: Hes an Oggsfotd man.Oh!He went to Oggsford College in England. You know Oggsford College?Ive heard about it.“他是扭津人”“哦！”“他在英国上过扭津大学，你知道扭津大学吧？”“我听说过。”（原文为 “oggsford”, 是 “Oxford”(牛津)的讹读。）(Deng Ruoxu)This is a dialogue between Nick and Wolfshiem when they talk about Gatsbys education background. In this dialogue, the author implies the illiteracy of Wolfshiem by his incorrect pronunciation of the university Oxford. Oggsford bears a sound like Oxford and Deng translates it into “扭津”which has a close sound to “牛津”. So in this translation a sense of humor is completely saved and vividly displayed.4. The use of reduplicated words Reduplicated words represent the beauty of languages in rhyme and expression. In Dengs translation, a lot of reduplicated words are used to adapt to Chinese language forms of expression. These words not only accurately reflect the meaning of the original text but also add more beauty to the target language. Example4:Then there were bloody towels upon the bathroom floor, and womens voices scolding and high over the confusion a long broken wail of pain. Mr. McKee awoke from his doze and started in a daze toward the door. 接下来，卧室地板上满是沾血的毛巾，还有女人的责骂声，在一片混乱之上回荡的是拖长声调、断断续续的痛苦哀嚎。麦基先生从瞌睡中被吵醒，懵懵懂懂就往门口走。(Deng Ruoxu) Example5: A stout, middle-aged man, with enormous owl-eyed spectacles, was sitting somewhat drunk on the edge of great table, staring with unsteady concentration at the shelves of books. 一个矮矮胖胖的中年男人，带着一副猫头鹰式的大眼睛，醉醺醺地坐在一张大桌子边上，恍恍惚惚地盯着架子上一排排书。(Deng Ruoxu) Example6: In his blue garden men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. 在他幽兰的花园里，男男女女像飞蛾一样，在笑语、香槟、和繁星间穿梭。(Deng Ruoxu) The use of duplicated word“断断续续”which is translated from “long broken” shows Dengs superb faculty of understanding and this duplicated word is acceptable to Chinese readers. The phrase is translated in “懵懵懂懂”in the sentence so the state of just awoke is vividly displayed. The word “stout” means short and fat, and it is translated into four-character phrase which seems very visual and symmetrical in sound and form. “醉醺醺”here successfully depicts an image of chronic drunkard. The phrase “迷迷糊糊”which is translated from “with unsteady concentration” shows his unclear mind and the target Chinese readers may easily imagine this image. “男男女女”easily creates a symmetric sound effect. In Dengs translation, “came and went” was translated as “穿梭”. But other translator like Wu Ningkuns version is “来来往往”which accurately reproduces the dynamic scene of “came and went” in the original text, while “穿梭”sounds more aesthetic and poetic.5. Translation of placesExample7: I lived at West Egg, thewell, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. 我住在西卵村，嗯，是两个半岛中比较不时髦的一个。但这只是最表面的标签，不足以说明二者之间离奇而不详的反差。(Deng Ruoxu)This sentence describes the place where Nick liveswest egg. From the description we know that the island which Nick lives in is composed of two large egg-shaped continents, one in the east and the other in the west. So how to translate “egg” is the main problem. There is no doubt that proper noun is usually translated by transliteration. So Yao Naiqiang translated it into “西埃格”. However, Wu Ningkuns version is “西卵”，Deng Ruokus version is “西卵村”. “西卵”sounds more vivid, for readers once see the name, they can associate it with the shape of egg. “西卵村”is much better. “村”in Chinese is “small town” or “village” which are underprivileged, just echoing to the following description “less fashionable”.6. Translation of rhetoric expressionExample8: The only completely stationary object in the room was an enormous couch on which two young women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon. They were both in white and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house.屋里唯一纹丝不动的是一张巨大的长沙发，上面坐着两个年轻女人，好像漂浮在一直被固定住的气球上。两人都穿着一身白，裙子随风轻舞飞扬，仿佛她们刚绕着房子飞了一圈回来一样。(Deng Ruoxu)These two sentences describe the phenomenon when Nick first visits Daisys home. He sees Daisy and Miss Baker lying on the couch. The author produced two similes and Deng translated them into “好像漂浮在一直被固定住的气球上” and “仿佛她们刚绕着房子飞了一圈回来一样”, not only reproduce the rhetorical meaning of the original, but also faithfully represents the idle life of the upper-class people.Example9: It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again. Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth. 那声音总能吸引人听得全神贯注，好像她每句话都是只演奏一次的音符。她的脸庞忧伤而美丽，蕴含着生动的内容：明亮的眼睛，鲜艳而多情的小嘴。(Deng Ruoxu)The author creates many rhetoric expressions in The Great Gatsby. And this simile vividly describes the beauty of her voice. Translator turns the negation “never be played again” to affirmation“只演奏一次”which more adapt to the form of Chinese language. 7. Translation of words Examples 10：“Im p-paralyzed with happiness.”“我幸福得快要瘫瘫了。” (Deng Ruoxu)This is Daisys first word when she meets Nick at her home. In the word “p-paralyzed”, the author repeats the first letter “p” to show that Daisy deliberately speaks with a stammer to express her excitement and delight, thus vividly describes Daisys hypocrisy. Deng substitutes an ellipsis for the original hyphen which follows the guiding principles of translation: faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance. Example 11:The Carraways are something of a clan, and we have a tradition that were descend from the Dukes of Buccleuch, but the actual founder of my line was my grandfathers brother, who came