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ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0867-7484
Access Type
Open Access Thesis
Document Type
thesis
Degree Program
Chinese
Degree Type
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Year Degree Awarded
2019
Month Degree Awarded
September
Abstract
The Finger-Guessing Game is a novel with many layers of themes, characterization, and metaphor, and conveying all of these varied aspects requires a detailed, careful approach to translation. With this thesis I aim to show that strictly adhering to a singular translation method, such as “word-for-word” or “sense-for-sense,” will produce unsatisfactory results at certain points within the novel. This is accomplished by an overview of several different unique aspects of the writing style of this novel, viewpoint, the theme of fate, and the use of idioms and metaphors. Following this will be an analysis of these aspects’ functions within the novel, and how to best translate them to retain their original meaning. In the end, I advocate for a case-by-case approach to the translation of this novel, wherein each unit of translation is considered individually, and the translator judges how to translate it in the best way possible. Only in this way can the meaning present at all levels in the text, from the themes down to the very language used, be translated in a manner which both reads naturally in English and still carries as much of the original meaning as possible.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/15178098
First Advisor
Enhua Zhang
Second Advisor
Elena Suet-Ying Chiu
Recommended Citation
Heinrichs, Jonathan, "Translation Issues in Modern Chinese Literature: Viewpoint, Fate and Metaphor in Xia Shang's "The Finger-Guessing Game"" (2019). Masters Theses. 834.
https://doi.org/10.7275/15178098
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/834