Abstract
This paper compares the linguistic acceptability in the Chinese translations of Peter Pan from a diachronic perspective, in terms of how changing socio-cultural factors over different time periods influence the linguistic acceptability of the target text. Linguistic acceptability is defined in relation to the extent to which translation conforms to dominant conventions and expectations in the target language. Relating to the polysystem theory, the paper first analyses the different roles translated literature has played in the Chinese literary system from the 1920s to the present, highlighting how, as translated literature moves from a central to a peripheral position, the preferred method of translation changes from innovative methods compromising the acceptability of the target text to conservative methods prioritising high acceptability. As part of the target literature polysystem, translation practice inevitably bears the mark of history. Three translations of J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, completed respectively in 1929 (Liang’s), 1991 (Yang’s) and 2011 (Ren’s) are compared in terms of their linguistic acceptability, illustrating how the changed position of translated literature results in the change of preferred translating methods, signalling a move from language reform to cultural resistance in the prevalent translation norms in China. Keywords: translation; polysystem theory; linguistic acceptability; language reform; China
Highlights
The concept of acceptability in translation was first proposed by Toury (1980), who uses the term together with adequacy to refer to two hypothetical extreme possibilities in translation
Following Toury’s hypothesis, when translated literature occupies a central position in the target culture, translation is more constrained by the linguistic rules and conventions of the source text, producing unnatural, “foreign” texts with low acceptability
As Yoshihiro (2005) points out, many features that are commonly found in modern Japanese literature, both in terms of linguistic devices and rhetorical features, such as similes, personification, the three-part modifier and the new punctuation system were all first introduced through translation in the Minji Period
Summary
The concept of acceptability in translation was first proposed by Toury (1980), who uses the term together with adequacy to refer to two hypothetical extreme possibilities in translation. Following Toury’s hypothesis, when translated literature occupies a central position in the target culture, translation is more constrained by the linguistic rules and conventions of the source text, producing unnatural, “foreign” texts with low acceptability. Toury (1980) finds that in the Hebrew literary system, as translated literature resided to a secondary position, the linguistic acceptability of the target text increased. One of the most insightful studies in this area is Xia’s (2010) diachronic comparison of the translation of novels from the 1910s to present, reporting that compared to translations completed in the 1920s and 1930s, a growing tendency of normalisation (translation strategies conforming to the rules of the target language, or, in other words, translation with high linguistic acceptability) can be observed in translations produced in the past few decades. Comparison is made in the treatment of these linguistic features in different translations, in order to explore whether the linguistic acceptability of the target text increases in later translations
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
