On Discourse Theory in the Translation of Chinese Allusions:A Case Study of Fortress Besieged and its Translation

Gao Xiuying

School of Foreign Languages,Minjiang University,Fuzhou,China

Email:980751827@qq.com

[Abstract] The study of discourse is still in its infancy in the current language research.The role of discourse in translation is mainly reflected in enhancing coherence.This paper analyzes the function of translation discourse in Fortress Besieged and its translation from multiple perspectives.Fortress Besieged is a well-known work of Chinese writer Qian Zhongshu.In this paper the author chooses Jeanne Kelly's translation version as the research object,aims to make the readers read the text more smoothly and accurately grasp the deep meaning and the connotation from the perspective of language and its ideology.

[Keywords] Discourse cohesion theory;Fortress Besieged;Text translation

Introduction

According to functional linguistics,the relationship between a text and a sentence is not a simple long or short relationship,but a whole connection,namely coherence,which is one of the most important features of a text structure.In the process of writing,the author of the original text often uses his own cultural background to create works.The translator,first as a reader,he or she will use his or her own existing knowledge according to his or her own cognitive ability and the information provided in the text to establish the coherence relationship of the whole text.That is the theory of discourse cohesion in translatology.There are three principles in the application of discourse cohesion theory in translatology:skopos theory,coherence principle and faithfulness to the original text.

Some people including Halliday and Hasan have been involved in the study of text translation at the end of last century.Halliday and Hasan (1985) mentioned the role of discourse in coherence in the bookCohesion of Discourse,which caused relevant discussion among researchers.They believe that"cohesion is semantic relevance,while textual cohesion refers to the connection of different components of a text in internal meaning".And their perspective on the discourse become one of the general concept of the discourse coherence theory.Romagnuolo (2009) also mentioned the importance of discourse coherence in the translation of political documents in his related articles.He proposed that political documents should not be translated into other countries' cultural viewpoints,because bringing in other cultures will make the original text out of the original context.In 2012,John L."McLaughlin studied the translation of religious texts in a cross-cultural context.He specifically discussed the translation of biblical texts." (Romagnuolo,2009,p.12)

In China,Hu Zhuanglin(1994)summarized his research on discourse cohesion and completed his monograph onDiscourse Cohesion and Coherence.Zhang Delu Zhang Delu (2005) studied the cohesion principle within the text in his related articles,and proposed the importance of context Cohesion Mechanism in text connection.In 2011,Hu Lishan also analyzed the speech of former premier Zhu Rongji through the study of relevant materials,and analyzed the different methods of translating texts from the perspective of cultural differences.In her article,"Wu Yan(2019)analyzes some common errors in discourse cohesion,and provides some guidance for future translation education in China by summarizing the experience."(Mclaughlin,2012,p.25)

Fortress Besiegedis the only novel written by Mr.Qian Zhongshu,which is known as"the most interesting and attentive novel in modern Chinese Literature".Qian Zhongshu used humorous language to depict the characters and reflect the social reality at that time.At the same time,in the book,Chinese and Western literature,philosophy,logic,customs,law,education system and other fields,such as foreign languages and feminism,are mentioned.It can be said that novels involve all aspects of language and culture,which make translation difficult.The English version ofFortress Besieged,first translated by American writer and translator Jeanne Kelly and polished and corrected by Mr.Nathan K.Mao,faithfully reproduces the linguistic and cultural charm and sentiment of the source text,and provides ideal materials for the comparative analysis of English and Chinese texts.

The translated text is an important way of cultural exchange between China and the West.The combination of discourse application can make the translated text to a higher level in the framework of cross-cultural communication.Under such conditions,the study of single sentence translation can not meet our needs.The emphasis on the role of discourse should be the future direction of translation studies.Chinese traditional literature is based on the author's own life experience and sincere and deep feelings for his hometown and his hometown people,and takes what he has seen and heard in his hometown life as the material.There are also many traditional reasons in China.In this sense,as an important part of Chinese literature,traditional literature plays an important role in displaying Chinese culture.Therefore,its translation is of great significance to the promotion of Chinese culture to the world.This paper puts forward the importance of applying textual coherence in translation.It points out that textual coherence not only makes the translated text"equivalent"to the original text,but also enables the reader to bring the whole text smoothly.

On Discourse Theory and its Advantages

In the bookCohesion in English,Halliday and Hasan mentioned that textuality is an essential element in a sentence.Any discourse that can become a text must have textuality.The textual features have two main features:one is structural,the other is non structural.The non structural feature refers to the cohesion within a discourse,that is,the two components in a discourse that are not bound by the syntactic structure can be related to each other in meaning.Cohesion is a semantic concept,which usually refers to the meaning relationship existing in the text.At the same time,the means of cohesion can be divided into two categories,namely grammatical cohesion and lexical cohesion.Grammatical cohesion includes reference,ellipsis,substitution and connection.Among them,reference refers to the reference of one component to another in a text;ellipsis is to avoid repetition,so one component in a text is omitted,so as to highlight new information and make the text more compact and coherent;Substitution refers to using a substitute word to replace one of its components,and its meaning needs to be explained by the part it replaces;connection refers to some words that express the connection of logical relations such as time or condition and causality.The important methods of lexical cohesion include repetition,synonymy,antonym,hyponymy and collocation.In text translation,cohesion can effectively enhance the compactness and coherence of the text,which plays an important role in translation.

Advantages in Enhancing Coherence of Text

"Faithfulness"and"expressiveness"are two basic principles that should be followed in translation.They should not only accurately show the literal meaning and core connotation of the English text,but also enable readers to accurately grasp the author's intention and ideas through the translated Chinese text.Text translation theory also emphasizes that the core content of the source text should be the main goal of translation,that is,skopos theory.On the one hand,the theory of discourse cohesion emphasizes that translators should flexibly use translation skills and choose appropriate translation methods according to the characteristics of different texts and readers,such as the use of"expressive"texts in official manuscripts,the"informative"texts in news releases and reports,and the"call type"texts in public publicity categories;On the other hand,it emphasizes that the text should have the characteristics of intralingual and interlingual coherence,that is,the internal meaning of the whole article should be systematic and integrated,and the external language system of the whole article should be fluent and natural.Only in this way can the readers read the text smoothly and fluently,and accurately grasp the meaning of the language level and the connotation of the ideological level.Based on the theory of functional translation,the teaching of literary translation should cultivate translators' ability to express the core content of English texts,achieving the translation goals of "faithfulness" and"expressiveness."(Chen,2004,p.5)

Advantages in Enhancing Equivalence of Text

The According to the theory of discourse cohesion,translators are not independent "third parties" who are only engaged in text translation.They can not turn text translation into a single "one size fits all" behavior.Instead,they should pay full attention to the communication and communication between the source text author and the reader,so as to realize the exchange of ideas and emotions between the two sides.The ultimate goal of text translation theory is to realize the barrier free communication between the author and the reader through the translation work,so that the readers can intuitively,clearly and accurately feel the intuitive meaning of the source language and the potential ideas that the author wants to express,just like reading the source text.Therefore,in addition to cultivating the flexible application of various translation skills,Chinese translators should also enhance their awareness of communication between the source text author and the reader.On the one hand,translators should be guided to strengthen the research on the creative style,motivation,characteristics and thoughts of the source text authors;on the other hand,they should pay attention to the readers'reading purpose and function,and realize the barrier communication between the source text author and the reader on the basis of meeting the readers'needs."Such a way will improve the translation level of translators,enhance their translation ability of science and technology,and enhance the effectiveness of cross-cultural communication."(Qian,2008,p.6)

Advantages in Enhancing Fluency of Reading

The conventional literary translation pays great attention to the expression of key words and phrases in specific sentences.It pursues the consistency in the use of words,words and sentences between the source text and the translated text,and then flexibly combines the order of words,words and sentences according to the characteristics of Chinese expression to convey the ideas of the source text.However,if we stick to specific words,words and sentences in translation,it will inevitably lead to the problem of limited expression,which will lead to the problems of stiff language,confusion of words and sentences and even deviation of meaning."The theory of discourse cohesion pays attention to the flexibility of the expression of the translation language,and its fundamental purpose is to accurately show the written meaning and internal thoughts of the text."(Rui,2012,p.4)Therefore,this theory will use language flexibly in practical application,and even after accurately grasping the meaning of key words,words and sentences,"it can be described with words,words and sentences that are commonly used by individuals or in Chinese language."(Bawden,et al.,2018,p.7) This makes the translator no longer limited to the rigid expression of the source text,which not only enhances the accuracy of meaning expression,but also improves the readability of the target language."More importantly,it enhances the universality of the translation,which is particularly important in the translation of literary works."(Swietlicki&Venuti,1992,p.12)

Analysis of Coherence

Coherence refers to the reference point of one component in a text as another.Coherence can be divided into three types:personal coherence,indicating personal coherence and comparative coherence.The words used for personal coherence can be divided into three categories:personal pronouns(such as he,him,etc.),subordinate determiners(such as his,etc.)and subordinate pronouns(such as its).The words indicating personal coherence include selective noun demonstratives (such as this,etc.),definite article "the" and demonstrative adverbs (such as here,etc.).Comparative coherence includes"same"and"differently".

Although there are no obvious differences in coherency types between English and Chinese,due to the fact that English emphasizes hypotaxis while Chinese emphasizes parataxis,the frequency of specific coherency devices in English and Chinese texts is not the same.The frequency of using personal pronouns and demonstrative pronouns in English is obviously higher than that in Chinese,while the use of zero anaphora and repeated use of nouns in Chinese is far more frequent than that in English.In Chinese,where there is no coherency,it is often not used,while in English,due to the requirements of grammatical rules,the referential relationship must be clearly expressed one by one.In translation,the word"coherence"should be added or deleted appropriately.

Example 1:

"事实上，一个人的缺点正像猴子的尾巴，猴子蹲在地面的时候，猴子尾巴是看不见的，直到他向树上爬，猴子就把猴子后部供大众瞻仰，可是这红臀长尾巴本来就，猴子并非地位爬高了的新标识。"(Qian,2009,p.153)

Translation:"He didn't realize that a person's shortcomings are just like a monkey's tail.When it's squatting on the ground,its tail is hidden from view,but as soon as it climbs a tree,it exposes its backside to everyone.Nevertheless,the long tail and red bot-tom were there all the time.They aren't just a mark of having climbed to a higher position(Qian,p.62&p.84).

In Chinese,parataxis is emphasized.If the semantic logical relationship of a sentence can be expressed clearly,reference should not be used to simplify the sentence.Therefore,the original text only uses a personal pronoun "he"to refer to"monkey",but uses zero type reference for"red buttocks and long tail".However,English emphasizes hypotaxis,which requires the addition of anaphoric elements to form a complete grammatical structure even if the sentence semantic expression is clear.Therefore,the translation uses the method of addition,adding personal reference,"monkey it its it it its"and"the long tailand red bottom they"to form a clear reference chain.This sentence is a classic metaphor.Comparing "human" to "monkey" and "defect" into "tail",ironic and humorous language deeply depicts the characters and reflects the social reality.

Example 2:

"信里讲些什么？是好话我就看,不是好话我就不看。"

Translation:What does it say?If it's something nice,I'll read it,if not,I won't.

In the translation of example sentences,the translator uses the cohesive devices of clause substitution and "if it is not anything nice" is replaced by "if not".At the same time,we use ellipsis to omit the verb and the object "read it",but with the morphological marker "won't",so that readers can find the original word from the context according to the marker.

Analysis of Equivalence

A method of equivalence is to substitute the words.Substitution refers to the use of substitute words to replace the words in the context.Therefore,substitutes are only forms,and their semantics should be indexed from the elements of substitution.There are nominal substitution,verbal substitution and clausal substitution.The general tendency of English is to avoid repetition as much as possible.This kind of cohesive device is often used to avoid repetition.Although there are some alternative cohesive devices in Chinese,such as"的"structure can be used as nominal substitution,equivalent to"one"in English.However,in general,repetition is still widely used in Chinese to achieve the purpose of cohesive context.In Chinese English translation,repetition should be converted into an alternative cohesive device,which is in line with the habit of concise English sentences.

Example 3:

"这个人真像个喽啰。"(Qian,2009,p.44)

Translation:"He act like an outlaw from the hills."(Qian,p.62)

"喽啰"is a unique expression in China.It has been given two meanings.On the one hand,it can be used to refer to talented people in ancient times.Later,it is often used to describe a person who is a follower of evil people.Here,the protagonist obviously uses it to describe people's appearance,and the second meaning is implicit.In translation,the translator translates it as"outlaw",which refers to the lawless,which is also a kind of substitution for understanding.

Analysis of Fluency

A method of improve the fluency is to apply the lexical cohesion.Lexical cohesion is to establish a semantic chain in a text through word selection,so as to establish the continuity of the text.Different from grammatical cohesion,lexical cohesion is not constrained by grammar,and can have cohesion in a long text,reflecting the semantic connection between linguistic elements of a text,thus affecting the faithful reproduction of the overall style and theme of the text.Chinese tends to use repetition.In order to avoid repetition,English uses more lexical repetition means such as synonym,near synonym,superordinate and hyponym and general word to reflect cohesion.

Example 4:

"以后飞机接连光顾,大有绝世佳人、一顾倾城再顾倾国的风度。"(Qian,2009,p.84)

Translation:"Later,the planes kept coming in much the same manner as the peerless beauty whose"one glance would conquera city and whose second glance could vanquish an empire."(Qian,p.101)

Chinese source text is an idiom"倾国倾城",repeated"倾",sentence rich rhythm.In order to avoid repetition,the translator uses "conquer" and "vanquish".After the outbreak of the Sino Japanese war in 1937,the Japanese army bombed and attacked day and night.Qian Zhongshu used metaphor to reproduce the scene."一顾倾城,再顾倾国",this is an exaggeration to describe the beauty of a woman,her eyes can destroy a city or even a country.This sentence is used to describe the destructive power of the air raid and humorously satirizes the cruelty of the Japanese.The translator not only effectively transforms the means of lexical cohesion,but also faithfully reproduces the cultural connotation of"倾国倾城".

Example 5:

"我觉得谁都可怜，汪处厚也可怜，我也可怜，孙小姐可怜，你也可怜"。

Translation:I feel sorry for everyone,for Wang Chuhou,for myself,for Miss Sun,and for you,too.

Therefore,the translator omits the subject"I"and the predicate"feel sorry"together and only keeps the preposition"for".The translation is concise and rhythmic.Chinese source texts use repetition as cohesive devices,emphasizing the exclamation of the speaker.

Conclusion

Based on Halliday's and Hasan's discourse cohesion theory,this paper compares the cohesive devices of English and Chinese texts ofFortress Besieged,and explores appropriate translation methods to transform cohesion differences,so as to make the translation conform to the expression habits of the target text and reproduce the cultural connotation of the original language.Due to the differences in thinking modes between China and the west,hypotaxis is emphasized in English,parataxis is emphasized in Chinese,and there are differences in cohesive devices between English and Chinese texts.In the process of translation,we should adopt appropriate cohesive transformation methods to make the translation conform to the expression habits of the target language and realize the coherence of the translation.At the same time,it should be pointed out that cohesive devices not only have the cohesive force of conjunctions in sentence formation and sentence formation,but also have strong expressive force in reflecting the language and culture of the source text.In translation,the translator should not only take into account the grammatical and lexical cohesive features of the source text and the target text,but also take into account the linguistic and cultural characteristics of the text so that the target readers can experience the classical language and unique cultural charm of the source text.