A Corpus-based Study on Stylistic Features of Lisao’s English Translations by the Yangs and Xu Yuanchong

Abstract

Among a number of English translations of Lisao, Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang’s version and Xu Yuanchong’s version are often regarded as the most representative ones. The article, based on the self-built parallel corpus of Lisao and the corpora of English British Romantic Poems, explores the stylistic features of Lisao's English translations of the Yangs and Xu Yuanchong through analysis of the collected data. The findings have shown that the Yang’s version is more variable in the use of words, more complex in sentence structures and more difficult in readability than Xu’s. The former has the tendency of explicitation while the latter simplification; In addition, the Yang’s version is faithful and close to the original structure, and Xu’s is simple and smooth in diction and sentence structure. The stylistic differences of the two translations by the Yangs and Xu can be attributed to the translators’ different views on translation their purposes and the strategies they chose.