Abstract
This article aims to review the theoretical assumptions of the phenomenon of retranslation, and to test some of these assumptions by studying the data collected from three sample chapters taken from the two complete English translations of Sanguo Yanyi – the first Chinese novel. Firstly, the three suggested denotations of the concept of ‘retranslation’ are identified and clarified. Secondly, the assumptions of retranslation are described, i.e. the necessity for retranslation, motives for retranslation, and the relation between the first translation and the retranslation of the same source text. Thirdly, the data from the sample chapters are analysed to test these assumptions. The general macro-structural features and some of the micro-structural features of the two translations are studied and compared. Lastly, a conclusion from the findings is drawn as the verification of the assumptions of the retranslation. The hypotheses of retranslation are also briefly discussed.
Highlights
Retranslation is a widespread phenomenon which has been discussed and studied by translators and Translation Studies (TS) scholars for years
This study aims firstly to review the theoretical assumptions made on retranslation, and secondly to test some of these assumptions based on the data collected from three sample chapters taken from Sanguo Yanyi, the first Chinese novel
The findings from the comparison of the two translations are summarised in Table 9: Table 9
Summary
Retranslation is a widespread phenomenon which has been discussed and studied by translators and Translation Studies (TS) scholars for years. In the 1920s and 1930s in China, Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales, Henrik Ibsen’s dramatic works, Miguel de Cervantes’ magnum opus Don Quixote, and some works from the former Soviet Union were translated into Chinese from English or French versions; these translations might have been more widespread and accessible than the texts in their original languages. The most commonly used denotation of the term “retranslation” refers to “either the act of translating a work that has previously been translated into the same language, or the result of such an act, i.e. the retranslated text itself” (Gürçağlar 2009:233) This phenomenon is called “new translation” or “multiple translations” (Almberg 1995:927), which refers to a text that is translated more than once into the same target language or different target languages. The present study will focus on this last denotation of the concept, and the term “retranslation” is used to refer to the new translation of the same ST into the same target language
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