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毕业论文-从小句分析看《边城》英译本的信度问题，共40页，36132字
中文摘要
作家沈从文最先把苗族文化引入文学创作，也是第一位真实描写农人和士兵
生活的中国作家。沈从文简单明晰的笔触和对中国人人性的关注使他的作品成为
30 年代文坛的奇葩。沈从文一生著作甚丰，《边城》是其代表作，这部优美的田
园小说，是沈从文的爱情颂歌。小说曾被译为 9 种文字，在所有的译本中，有两
个英文译本很引人注目，分别是金隄和白英合译的 The Frontier City 以及戴乃迭
所译的 The Border Town。
本文计划用最基本的翻译标准——信度——来分析这两个译本。严复提出“信
达雅”的翻译标准，其中“信”居首位。然而“信”本身是个模糊的概念，而且
对信度的判断不可避免涉及主观因素，考查一个译本是否忠实因而显得不易。
Kirsten Malmkjaer 提出了从结果角度对翻译单位的定义，她指出，译文中的一个
单位能复绘于原文一个单位之上。受这个定义启发，本文将借助小句作为翻译的
转换单位，把译文复绘于原文之上，力求更客观地分析两个译本在信度上的优劣。
本文第一章简要介绍《边城》小说和其译本。第二章阐释研究的理论背景和
研究方法。第三章对 6 个选篇进行详细分析，通过对原文和译本进行小句分析，
考查是否有原文内容的遗漏或增添，并进一步探讨遗漏和增添的背后原因。第四
章是本文的结论，在分析的基础上，本文认为译文的“信”是在内容、结构和艺
术三个层面上对原文的忠实。
关键词：《边城》 信度 小句 翻译的转换单位

ABSTRACT
The Chinese 20th century writer Shen Congwen was the first to write about the
lives of Miao minority people in literature. He was also the first to portray truthfully
the lives of Chinese soldiers and peasants. His obsession with the humanity of the
Chinese people and his terse, simple writing style make his works stand out in China’s
literature of the 1930s. Shen Congwen’s novel Biancheng is considered his masterwork,
a beautifully written pastoral ode to love. The novel has been translated into nine
different languages. Among the translations, two English translations are especially
notable, The Frontier City translated by Ching Ti and Robert Payne and The Border
Town by Gladys Yang.
The thesis compares these two versions in terms of the basic translation criterion
of their degree of faithfulness to the original Chinese text. In Yan Fu’s criteria for a
good translation, “faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance” are necessary
components, with ‘faithfulness’ as a primary. It is not easy to determine, however, the
degree to which a translation is faithful. The term “faithfulness” in the first place is
ambiguous. On the other hand, subjectivity and personal preference are inevitable
aspects of evaluating the accuracy of a translation. The thesis uses causal analysis to
limit the degree of subjectivity in this process of evaluation and to try to build in an
objective foundation on which to base an evaluation. Kirsten Malmkjaer points out that
a unit in the target text can be mapped onto a unit in the source text. The degree of
correspondence between the source text and the target text can then be somewhat
objectively measured and evaluated. The thesis maps and analyzes six excerpts from
the source text as they are translated into English focusing on the clause as the transfer
unit to determine the degree of faithfulness in the two translations.
Chapter One provides background information about Biancheng and its
translations. Chapter Two defines the concept of clausal analysis as the unit of
translation and outlines the methodology used to analyze the translations. Chapter
Three does a detailed clausal analysis of six excerpts. First, the source text and two
translations are broken down into clausal units. The clausal units are then mapped onto
II
the source text to determine the extent to which content is omitted or added in the
translations. Then the thesis probes the possible reasons for adding or omitting content.
Chapter Four draws the conclusions reached in the analysis and evaluates the target
texts in terms of their relative faithfulness to the source text in content, structure and
artistry.
Keywords: Biancheng Faithfulness Clause Transfer Unit

CONTENTS
Chapter One
Introduction to Biancheng and Its Translations 1
Biancheng—“Something in a Periphery of China” .. 1
Introduction to Biancheng’s translations... 2
Chapter Two
Study Methodology .. 4
The Unit of Translation . 4
Review of Translation Unit from Process-oriented Perspective ... 4
The Clause as the Unit of Translation ... 5
The English Clause and Clausal Analysis. 6
The Chinese Clause and Clausal Analysis 7
Faithfulness from the Product-oriented Perspective . 8
Chapter Three An Analysis of Faithfulness in Two English Translations of
Biancheng . 9
Excerpt 1 ... 9
Excerpts 2 & 3. 10
Excerpt 4 . 13
Excerpt 5 . 15
Excerpt 6 . 17
Chapter Four Conclusion. 20
WORKS CITED .. 21
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... 23
APPENDIX A The Frontier City Analyzed (sample) .. 24
APPENDIX B The Border Town Analyzed (sample) . 29