A Translation Analysis of The Thorn Birds From Newmark’s Theory

【Abstract】：The Thorn Birds is one of the novels written by Colleen McCullough who is a famous author in Australia. Being published in the United States in 1977， the novel was considered as the \"Gone with the Wind of Australia\" and became the bestselling novel in the world. This thesis attempts to analyze the translation work of The Thorn Birds from Newmark’s theory. According to different contents and styles， Peter Newmark makes a classification of a text which including three functions： Expressive function， informative function and vocative function. He points out that semantic translation and communicative translation are used in the three types of the text. Moreover， in the point of Newmark’s view， literary work is the expressive text which requests the translator to utilize semantic translation strategy into his work. However， in real translation practice， semantic translation strategy and communicative translation strategy shall be both adopted in the book of The Thorn Birds. By analyzing the translation examples in The Thorn Birds from Peter Newmark’s theory， this thesis makes it clear that semantic translation strategy and communicative translation strategy should both be adapted in the three types of the text and Newmark’s theory is a good instruction in translation.

【Key words】：The Thorn Birds； Newmark’s theory； Semantic translation； Communicative translation

1. Introduction

In this part， the author will give an over-all comment on Peter Newmark which can help readers have an easy understanding of this thesis.

1.1 A Brief Introduction to Peter Newmark

Peter Newmark， born in Czech， was a famous translator and translation theorists. As an English professor of translation at the University of Surrey， he was an intelligent translator and editor. His interest was to apply linguistic theory into real translation practice， and then combine translation study with English language learning.

In 1974， Peter Newmark became a professor and began to set a series classes about translation. Because he did a large amount of translation practice and had abundant teaching experience， his unique perspectives about translation came into being which became the treasure to the translation cycle. In 1981， his first book named Translation Theory published in which he came up with “semantic translation” and “communicative translation”. Successively， he published a lot of polemical works： A Textbook of Translation （1988）， Paragraphs on Translation （1989）， About Translation （1991）， and More paragraphs on Translation.

2. Peter Newmark’s Theory

Peter Newmark’s theory has great influence in the western translation circle. The most important of his theory is semantic translation and communicative translation.

2.1 Semantic Translation

Semantic translation attempts to render the exact contextual meaning of the original， as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the second language allow. It focuses primarily on the semantic content of the source text. For example， if we translate this Chinese idiom “謀事在人，成事在天” into English，under the guide of semantic translation， it would be translated into “Man proposes， Heaven disposes.” Hence， semantic translation is not a rigid translation， but there exists a flexible factor in translating.

2.2 Communicative Translation

Communicative translation attempts to produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original. In addition， it focuses essentially upon the comprehension and response of receptors. For example， if we translate this Chinese idiom “謀事在人，成事在天”，under the guide of communicative translation， it would be translated into “Man proposes， God disposes”. Therefore， in the communicative translation， the translator has full space to do his translation work and he can have a creative work. It is possible to reorganize the syntax and sentence and clear the original obscure or repetitive place in the original version. So the translator can use the unique language to specific and even to adjust the logical relationship of the original text.

3. Translation Analysis in The Thorn Birds

In this part， the author should select three types of the text to analyze the translation work of The Thorn Birds. According to Buhler’s language function theory， Newmark comes up a theory that a text could be divided into expressive text， informative text and vocative text. Different types suit to different translation strategies including semantic translation strategy and communicative strategy. In addition， both strategies are coexisting in translation.

3.1Expressive Text Analysis

Expressive text aims to express the true and exact information. What should be taken into consideration firstly in expressive text is the accuracy of translation. Thus， when translating this text， the translator needs to achieve accuracy and mostly the semantic translation strategy should be adapted. The examples are following.

The original version：

He was very small， not above five feet three inches， and thin still as striplings are， but the bare shoulders and arms had muscles already knotted from working with the hammer， and the pale， flawless skin gleamed with sweat. The darkness of his hair and eyes had a foreign tang， his full-lipped mouth and wide-bridged nose …（McCullough ， 1977： 15）

The translation version：

他個(gè)頭很矮，還不到5英3英寸，依然瘦得像個(gè)少年，不過，那裸露的肩頭和雙臂卻由于操錘勞作而顯得肌肉發(fā)達(dá)：那又白又光滑的皮膚上有一層汗水在閃閃發(fā)亮。 （Zeng， 2008：10）

In the original version， the author uses some adjectives-small， thin， knotted， pale， flawless and so on to describe Frank which can show the personality of Frank. In addition， if a translator wants to translate those sentences successfully， he needs to pay more attention to the exact words in the original version not the sentence. Moreover， the length of the translation version and the original version is almost the same. According to Newmark’s theory， the translator should highlight the style and the usage of the original version and literal translation method or semantic translation strategy should be adopted not the free translation method.

3.2Informative Text Analysis

Informative text aims to convey information to the reader. Hence， when translating this type of text， the translator needs to convey information exactly and smoothly. This strategy does not seek the equivalence of the form but to achieve the effect of information covey. In addition， the semantic translation strategy should be adapted generally. The examples are following.

The original version：

The entry in the log book for Sunday， July 22， 1934， said： Sky clear， no cloud， temperature at dawn 34 degrees. No Mass today. Bob in， Jack out at Murrimbah with 2 stockmen， Hughie out at West Dam with 1 stockmen， Beerbarrel droving 3-year wethers from Budgin to Winnemurra. Temperature high at 3 o’clock， 85 degrees. Barometer steady， 30.6 inches. Wind due we…（McCullough ， 1977： 306）

The translation version：

1934年7月22日的日記記錄中寫著：晴，無云，溫度為34 度。今日未做彌撒。鮑勃返回，杰克帶兩名牧工在莫琳巴，休吉帶牧工一人在西壩，比爾巴瑞爾將三歲的羊從布金趕到溫尼姆拉。3時(shí)，溫度升高，為85度。氣壓計(jì)穩(wěn)定，為30.6英寸，西風(fēng)… （Zeng ， 2008： 298）

“Logbook” refers to the original ship log accompanying record book in which an important event in all ships and sailings should have the right of official records. Now it is not only a working log， but also a log to record the daily things in order to facilitate the accumulation of work experience and for better to do a good job. The log records should be objective and true description of the contents of the log. In the original version， the author describes the exact information objectively. Fee， Maggie’s mother， had developed a habit of writing logbook. In her logbook， she will record the details in daily such as the location of the sleep， the season， the weather， even the meals. In the translation version， the translator translates “wind due west” into “西風(fēng)”which manifests he makes an ellipsis of the word “due”. And when talking about Maggie’s wedding， Fee just describes an objective fact that Maggie will marry Luke without any her personal mood. The author chooses communicative translation. In a word， informative text just describes the objective fact without any emotion.

3.3Vocative Text Analysis

The core of vocative text is the reader not the author. This type of the text aims to persuade or guide the reader to do something or believe some truths. Hence， when translating this type of text， the translator should put himself in the position of a reader. The feelings， thoughts， actions and so on of a reader are the goal which the translator should achieve. In addition， the communicative translation strategy should be adapted generally. The examples are following.

The original version：

“Our staying power， and that of the Mother Country， will be best assisted by keeping our production going， continuing our avocations and business， maintaining employment， and with it， our strength…”（McCullough ， 1977： 152）

The translation version：

“我們賴以支持的那個(gè)政權(quán)，亦即我們的祖先之邦，將通過我們生產(chǎn)的繼續(xù)進(jìn)行，我們以副業(yè)和商業(yè)的繼續(xù)進(jìn)行和保證就業(yè)—這就是我們的力量—得到最好的援助…”（Zeng ， 2008： 146）

The original version is a political speech which appeals Australians to join in the World II to against Hitler and his polity. The language and content in the text are full of power and inspiration which will produce a same response among people. Accordingly， the translator should take the style， the tone， the background and the affect of the text into consideration. In the translation version， when the author translates “power”， “mother country” ， “keeping our production going， continuing our avocations and business， maintaining employment”， he must know and understand the background of the text and then seek the favorable words to his translation. Moreover， the translator deals with those words and sentences successfully which conform to the purpose of the original version. Both of the semantic translation strategy and communicative translation strategy are used.

4. Conclusion

The Thorn Birds is a great family legend and love story which is still shaking readers’ hearts today. The real significance of the novel is that only the one who will fight bravely against the tragic fate can be called the real warrior. In different periods of history， the translation theories of different regions have played a guiding role in the development of translation practice. The famous and popular translation version is written by Zeng Hu. Through analyzing the translation work of The Thorn Birds from Newmark’s theory， especially the expressive text theory， the informative text theory and the vocative text theory， the writer finds that different types of the text should adapt different strategies to the translating process. Moreover， the core of expressive function is the speaker and the author. The informative function needs the translator to comply with the principal of “reality first” and vocative function aims to appeal readers to act， think， and feel from the author’s side. With a great significance， the three types are coexisting in a work which request the translator to do a better choice in the real practice.

References

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作者簡(jiǎn)介：周萍（1989—），女，漢族，四川自貢，研究生在讀，單位：西華大學(xué)與樂山師范學(xué)院聯(lián)合培養(yǎng)，研究方向：英語翻譯。