Foreignization Strategies Applied in Wang Jiaxiang’s Translated Version：Their Eyes Were Watching God

【Abstract】As the first work in black literature， the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” describes the life of Janie who desires to resist the tradition and strives to find love and fights for the rights of others. It displays the awakening of female consciousness in black female hearts. Professor Wang Jiaxiang translated this novel into Chinese in 2000 and introduced it to China. Wang Jiaxiang， a famous British and American literary expert in Beijing Foreign Studies University and an experienced translator who won the “Lu Xun Literature Prize Literature Translation Award”， received the honorary title of “Senior Translator” from the Chinese Translation Association. This article aims to collate and summarize Prof. Wang Jiaxiangs translation strategies， take “Their Eyes Were Watching God” as an example to observe whether Wang Jiaxiang has used literal translation in translating works. Through research， Wang Jiaxiang adopted literal translation strategy to maximize the original text style. In her translation works， translation of other vocabulary， sentence structure， rhetorical devices， etc. are mostly based on Foreignization， except for a part of the vocabulary adopting the method of Domestication.

【Key words】translation strategies； literal translation； Wang Jiaxiang； rhetorical device

【作者簡介】吳怡菲，沈陽師范大學。

1. Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

Zora Neale Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God in 1937. This novel describes life of Janie， who resisted to the customs of women as bondage and strove for their human rights. This fiction is a significant development in the creation of female images in black literature. It has manifested itself in protesting against racial discrimination and oppression， defending the interests of blacks， and forming a positive black image for raising racial prestige， indicating that blacks and whites are with no difference， thus proving the absurdity of racial discrimination （王， 1989， 74）. To 1990s， there has over 150 kinds of monographs and papers about Their Eyes Were Watching God.

This book was introduced in China by Prof. Wang Jiaxiang in 1980s， and it was also translated into Chinese by Prof. Wang. Although this book has not influenced as much readers as other literature translated by Wang Jiaxiang， it has been noticed by some scholars. The studies on this fiction have about 200 and they focus on foreign literature. By and large， there is still some space for research on this fiction， especially from the respect of translation.

In view of the current domestic studies on this area can be further developed， there has not a systematic study on Wang Jiaxiang. Wang Jiaxiang， famous foreign language writer and translator， has translated over 50 works， including fictions， prose and scrip. It is noteworthy that， Prof. Wang Jiaxiang has been 82 years old. Now， there are rarely a few essays which argue about the translating thought of Wang Jiaxiang. Preserving Wang Jiaxiangs precious translating thought has become a significant and urgent task.

1.2 Foreignization Strategies Applied in Their Eyes Were Watching God

In Wang Jiaxiangs translation of Their Eyes Were Watching God， one of the most intuitional units to show the translators style to the readers is vocabulary. Zora Neale Hurstons language has the characteristic of simple， colloquial， colorful， and making good use of a large number of rhetorical devices and having an extremely strong black literature style. Similarly， Wang Jiaxiang retains the original authors style， and the language uses a lot of very bright， straightforward words.

ST1： They plan and they fix and they do， and then some kitchen-dwelling field slips a scorchy， soggy， tasteless mess into their pots and pans. （Hurston， 2006， p. 71-72）

TT1：她們計劃著、安排著、干著，可不定哪個灶魔王會偷偷往她們的鍋里盆里放進點沒烤透的、沒味的、糊巴巴的東西。（王， 2017， p. 84）

The word “scorch” means that to （cause to） change colour with dry heat， or to burn slightly. However， the word “scorchy” in Their Eyes Were Watching God does not exist in dictionary. Zora made this word herself. In the process of translating this word， Wang Jiaxiang came up with the original intention of the author， and translated it into a state without baking， rather than being burned. The word “soggy” means that something is unpleasantly wet and soft which can absorb water， especially food. From this word， we can find that baked or scorched food cannot be in a soft state. Therefore， Wang Jiaxiangs translation is not only accurate， but also uses Foreignization methods to translate the state of food.

Zoras language is bright and colourful. It often feels like an immersive experience. In the process of translation， Wang Jiaxiang retained vivid colors of the original text， and because of her method of Foreignization， the articles style was exceedingly exotic.

ST2：And look at the way he painted it—a gloaty， sparkly white. The kind of promenading white that the houses of Bishop Whipple， W. B. Jackson and the Vanderpools wore. （Hurston， 2006， p. 47）

TT2：再看看房子是怎么漆的吧：漆成洋洋得意的光閃閃的白色，那種炫耀的白顏色，威普爾主教、杰克遜和范德普爾家的房子才有的白色。（王， 2017， p. 55）

The word “gloaty” is changed from the word “gloat” by Zora. Gloat means that to feel or express great pleasure or satisfaction because of your own success or good luck， or others failure or bad luck. Wang Jiaxiang translated white into more levels of implication. Firstly， she emphasized that the color of the house is white to the dazzling， reflective colors. Second， from the previous point of view， Starks had just become a representative of the authority of the town. His words and deeds made citizens afraid. Wang Jiaxiang retains the original meaning of two adjectives in English and reveals Joes proud of himself.

Zora is an author who is very good at using rhetorical devices. In almost every line of her writing， rhetoric is used. In most of the translations， Wang Jiaxiang retains the rhetorical devices of the original text， as well as the signified and the signifier of the original text.

ST3： All gods who receive homage are cruel. All gods dispense suffering without reason. Otherwise they would not be worshipped. Through indiscriminate suffering men know fear and fear is the most divine emotion. It is the stones for altars and the beginning of wisdom. Half gods are worshipped in wine and flowers. Real gods require blood. （Hurston， 2006， p. 145）

TT3：一切接受頂禮膜拜的神都是無情的，一切的神都毫無道理地布下痛苦，否則就不會有人朝拜它們了。人們由于遭受沒來由的痛苦懂得了恐懼，而恐懼是最神圣的感情，它是建筑圣壇之石、智慧之始。人們以美酒和鮮花來供奉半是神明的人，真正的神要的是鮮血。（王， 2017， p. 169）

In this passage， Mrs. Turners adoration of Janie caused her fear. Janie was deified. Zora compares Janie to God and compares fear with an integral part of the altar and wisdom. This passage is philosophical and requires multiple readings to understand its inner meaning. Wang Jiaxiang used Foreignization to translate the text literally， without making any unnecessary explanations， leaving the reader with a space for his own thoughts. However， it is worth mentioning that in the article， Wang Jiaxiang translated “half gods” into a “半是神明的人”. Half gods refers to the half human half god， such as Achilles. In Greek and Roman myth， the heroes who promise birth by a god and a human belong to half gods. Therefore， the author believes that the translation into “heroes” here is more accurate.

In addition to similes， metaphors， and personifications， Zora used many rhetorical devices such as Hyperbole， Parallelism， Allusion， Irony， and so on.

2. Study on Translating Thoughts of Prof. Wang Jiaxiang

After summarizing the specific translation examples of Prof. Wang Jiaxiang， the author concludes that Prof. Wang Jiaxiang mainly uses literal translation in her translation process. When translating， she mainly adopts a Foreignization strategy， and in a few cases， a domestication translation strategy is used.

2.1 Theoretical Origins of the Translating Thought

Prof. Wang Jiaxiangs education during her childhood had a fundamental impact on her. In 1953， she admitted to Beijing Foreign Studies University. She learned from Xu Guozhang， Wang Zuoliang and Zhou Xueliang. Mr. Wang Zuoliangs translation thought has exerted a subtle influence on Prof. Wang Jiaxiang. Prof. Wang Jiaxiang can be said to thoroughly implemented her teacher Wang Zuoliangs translation thought. How the style of the original text， how she turned. Then the style of the translation is also revealing liveliness and color.

Prof. Wang Jiaxiang was born in the 1930s and studied under Professor Wang Zuoliang and Xu Guozhang during the university. Influenced by the educational environment and cultural atmosphere at that time， the older generation of translators will have some translation strategies that choose literal translation.

2.2 Special Features in her Literary Translation

In the previous article， the author has already analyzed that Prof. Wang Jiaxiang used the literal translation method for allusions in the original text. In the full text， Prof. Wang Jiaxiang has marked twelve footnotes， of which ten are for allusions. In the previous article， the author has already analyzed that Prof. Wang Jiaxiang used the literal translation method for allusions in the original text.

In addition， Prof. Wang Jiaxiang often retains the sentence patterns in the translation process. This sentence is often referred to as “European sentence.” It does not have much relevance to the translators level of translation， but it will affect the overall style of the article. It will give the reader an intuitive impression. The language of this article is a Western or a Chinese-like structure.

References：

[1]Schleiermacher，F(xiàn).（2004）.On different translation methods.（Bernofsky，Susan，Trans.）.in Venuti，Lawrence，The translation studies reader.New York：Routledge.

[2]Zora，Neale Hurston.（2006）.Their eyes were watching god.New York：Harper Paperbacks.