Appreciation of “August” by Charles Dickens from the Angle of Deviation

【Abstract】This paper is going to analyze “August” by Charles Dickens from the angle of deviation which is part of Foregrounding theory.

【Key words】lexical deviation； grammatical deviation； phonological deviation； graphological deviation

According to G. H. Leechs theory， deviation can be categorized into eight types： lexical deviation， grammatical deviation， phonological deviation， graphological deviation， semantic deviation， dialectal deviation， deviation of register， deviation of the historical period. This paper is to analyze “August” according to the first three types.

1. Lexical Deviation

S2（Sentence 2）

This is a compound sentence consisting three simple sentences（A）（B）（C）. A can be rewritten as “spring is beautiful”. But the author prefers the noun form of beautiful. In this part， “beauty” becomes a countable noun， which is usually a abstract and uncountable. And if “beauty” is used as a countable noun， it means a beautiful woman. The noun “beauty” expresses a more specific meaning than the adjective form. “Beautiful” is general， but “beauty” can reminds people a lot of pleasant images. So “beauty” is foregrounded. In B， “fresh” and “blooming” are used to modify “May”. Usually， “fresh” describes air， water， foliage etc. and “blooming” goes with flowers and trees. Thus these two words are foregrounded to impress the reader that May is flourishing with fresh air， green trees， and colorful blossoms. C can be paraphrased as “their contrast with the winter season enhances the charms of this time of the year”. Instead， the author used a passive voice with its actual subject“by their contrast with the winter season”. So “contrast” is foregrounded. The actual subject is at the end of the sentence， next to the following sentences which talks about the contrasts between August and winter season.

S6

The verbs in this sentence are especially chosen. “Appear” “hang over” “extend” give slow， soft and quiet senses. And instead of using “influent” and “move”， the author chooses the noun forms “influence” and “motion”. Nouns can also produce a sense of quietness. Thus these words are foregrounded to create a gentle quiet relax atmosphere.

2. Grammatical Deviation

S8

“its all very fine to look at， but slow going， over a heavy field， is better than warm work like that， upon a dusty road， after all.” This sentence is arranged in unordinary way. The regular order of words should be “its all very fine to look at， but after all， going slow over a heavy field is better than worm work upon a dusty road like that.” The original one looks like broken， because many commas are intercepted. It is foregrounded to express the mind state of the cart-horse. On one hand， It is so tired that it can not organize words well； on the other hand， the cart-horse actually does admire the coach-horses， since “very fine” comes to its mind first and “after all” last.

3. Phonological Deviation

S5

Thus the author chooses many words with long vowels like tree， beneath， sheaf， sweep and woo， and with voiceless consonantlike hum， breath and hue. Long vowels can slow down the speed of speech； the voiceless consonant can quiet the speech. “Hum” means a low continues sound. “Breath” refers to wind. These speech sounds are foregrounded to create a slow， quiet and soft feeling which echoes with the scenery described in this sentence.

To sum up， the author appreciate “August” according to the theory and principles of deviation. It offers a different way of understanding the source text and a different standard to evaluate the target text.

References：

[1]Halliday，M.A.K.Explorations in the Functions of Language[M].London：Edward Arnold，1973：103-143.

[2]Mukarovsky，J.Standard language and Poetic language[C].In：Garvin，P.L.ed.A Prague School Reader on Esthetics，Literary and Style.Washington D.C.：Geogetown42 University Press，1964： 17-30.

[3]王佐良，丁往道（主編）.英語文體學引論[M].北京：外語教學與研究出版社，1987.

[4]葉子南.高級英漢翻譯理論與實踐[M].北京：清華大學出版社，2001.

作者簡介：謝滔滔（1987.1-），女，漢族，湖南邵陽人，碩士，講師，研究方向：翻譯和教學法。