A Comparative Study on Translator’s Competence in the Chinese Version of Animal Farm

罗茜

Orwells work Animal Farm is an ironic political fable novel， since this novel was published； it has been translated into multiple languages and is welcomed by lots of people of the world. Also the original work has a unique perspective and language style which are preferred by a lot of people. According to comparative study and detailed examples， this paper analyzes the Chinese version from the perspective of translator competence and would make an objective evaluation of the two versions. Moreover， this paper will give a referential value to the literary translation and guide people to appreciate a better translation.

1. Literature Review

With the development of English teaching， translation competence and translators training are turned to be key emphases among China. However， these researches are not yet comprehensive and deep enough； even the explicit system has not been established.

1.1 Studies on Translation Competence

In recent years， lots of people pay attention to the translation study， and especially the translation competence has become the focus point. Also “Adab had viewed the definition， development and evaluation of this competence， pointing that translation competence could be studied from two aspects： from the product or from the process”. And Kordi “expressed that translation competence included a complex variety of cognitive， linguistic and cultural skills”.

Károly “stated the most frequent errors that students made during the process of translating， and connected these errors with translation competence， finding that this research could help teachers design the translation curriculum well”.

1.2 Studies on Translators Competence

Many studies on translators competence were based on some aspects， such as foreign language teaching， cross-cultural communication and translation tools， etc. But these studies were not systematic enough.

Alos “mentioned the second language acquisitions application in translator training， pointed that there were some problems existing in translators competence and highlighted the importance of classroom instruction in the development of trainee translators pragmatic abilities”.

2. Analyses on the Two Versions

Translators competence involves in many aspects， and this paper would analyze it from the following perspectives： language competence， textural competence， cultural competence and transfer competence.

2.1 Language Competence

Translators language competence includes lexical selection， bilingual ability and grammar rules， etc. Also in Rong Rude and Fu Weicis Chinese versions， the first three perspectives are reflected apparently. Both of the two versions have their own characteristics.

Original text： “The animals carried on as best they could with the rebuilding of the windmill， well knowing that the outside world was watching them and that the envious human beings would rejoice and triumph if the mill were not finished on time”.

Rong：“动物们尽最大的努力把重建风车的工程继续进行下去，深知外界正注视着他们，倘若风车不能如期竣工的话，幸灾乐祸的人类必然会趾高气扬欢庆胜利。”

Fu：“动物们各自竭尽力量进行风车的重建工作，因为他们知道得很清楚，外界都在注视着他们，如果这个工程不能如期完成，幸灾乐祸的人们一定会欢心鼓舞的。”

From this example， both of the two translators use idioms to express humans feelings， which are in line with Chinese readers preference and demonstrate translators bilingual language skills. However， in grammatical aspects， Rongs version has a minor flaw that lacking a conjunction before “深知外界正注视着他们”. Thus language competence influences the quality of translation.

2.2 Textual Competence

Textual competence includes cohesion， coherence， acceptability and informatively， etc. This paper regards coherence as a focus to analyze the textual competence and manifests the importance of coherence in literary translation.

Original text： “He didnt！ I wasnt！ It isnt true！” cried Mollie， beginning to prance about and paw the ground”.

Rong：“他没有！我也沒有！这不是真的！”“莫丽喊道，开始连连腾跳，用蹄子刨地。”

Fu：“他没摸我！我没叫他摸我！你说的不是真的！”茉莉一边喊一边跳着脚用蹄子刨地。

These three short sentences are brief and powerful which display the Mollies nervousness and panic vividly. The compact translation totally indicates the original texts content. Although the expression of the two versions is different， the information is consistent. Only paying more attention to textual competence， the translation could be appropriate and faithful.

2.3 Cultural Competence

Translators cultural competence involves cross-culture， cultural adaptation and cultural harmony， etc. But mastering the cultural competence is not easy， because it requires the translator to have profound and broad knowledge. In the translation of Animal Farm， these two translators Rong and Fu pay attention to the cultural difference and apply the correct strategies.

Original text： “The cows lowed it， the dogs whined it， the sheep bleated it， the horses whinnied it， the ducks quacked it”.

Rong：“母牛唱的是哞哞的低音声部，狗的哀叫适用于长腔，羊的咩咩、马的嘶鸣、鸭子的呷呷叫，统统各得其所。”

Fu：“牛哞哞叫，狗汪汪吠，羊咩咩鸣，马打着响鼻，鸭子发出一片呷呷声响。”

From this translation， both Rong and Fu add some characters to make the version satisfy Chinese readers demands. But comparatively speaking， Fus version is much better than Rongs. For Fu Weici uses unified phrases and consistent onomatopoeia to express these animals singing， which considers Chinese culture and Western cultures difference in detail.

2.4 Transfer Competence

In different contexts， the excellent translator should have transfer competence and apply flexible strategies to deal with difficulties in translation. And in the translation of Animal Farm， there is a typical song called Beasts of England whose translation totally reflects the translators transfer competence.

Original text：

“Soon or late the day is coming，

Tyrant Man shall be oer thrown，

And the fruitful fields of England

Shall be trod by beasts alone”.

Rong：“這一天总会来的，无非迟或早，

人类的暴政一定要推倒，

英格兰千里沃野

将全由生灵们驰骋逍遥。”

Fu：“这一天或迟或早定要到来，

残暴的人类将被我们推翻。

只有动物们能够享受，

英国大地的沃土、良田。”

Although Rong and Fu use different rhymes， the effects are same. In this context， their language style is different from the former translation， and it expresses an exciting and cheerful feeling. Additionally， two translators do not apply the previous style， which naturally shows the transfer competence of the translators.

3. Conclusion

The study on the translation of Animal Farm is significant and valuable. Maybe different translators adapt different strategies and they are also influenced by various elements， such as historical and cultural background， ideology， knowledge reserve and translation experiences， etc. Each of elements may affect the versions quality， so in order to improve the quality of translation， people ought to focus on these elements and take correct translation strategies.

Moreover， through the comparative study， people would get more understanding about translation， even have more opportunities to learn translation strategies from different translators and scholars.

Meanwhile， translator plays an important role during the translation process. And translators competence is particularly crucial. Mostly translators competence is connected with foreign language teaching and translation teaching， thus people had better not ignore it in the aspect of literary translation. On the contrary， there ought to be more analyses on literary translation.

Also， people must cultivate their translators competence， especially the language competence， textual competence， cultural competence and transfer competence. All of these require high qualities of a translator； therefore， each translator should make great efforts to achieve their goals.

Reference

[1] B.J. Adab. Developing Translation Competence [M]. Amsterdam： John Benjamins Publishing Company， 2012.

[2] L.Kordi？. Developing Translation Competence Within the Lifelong Learning Programme for Lawyer-Linguists in the Republic of Croatia [J]. Studies in Logic， Grammar and Rhetoric， 2016， 45（1）.

[3] A. Károly. Translation competence and translation performance： Lexical， syntactic and textual patterns in student translations of a specialized EU genre [J]. English for Specific Purposes， 2011， 31（1）.

[4] Alos. Explicating the implicit： an empirical investigation into pragmatic competence in translator training[J]. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer， 2015， 9（3）.

[5] G. Orwell. Animal Farm [M]. Plum， 2003.

[6] 榮如德.动物农场[M]. 上海： 上海译文出版社， 2010.

[7] 傅惟慈.动物农场[M]. 北京： 北京十月文艺出版社， 2010.

（作者单位：大连理工大学研究生院）