羅茜

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：“動物們盡最大的努力把重建風車的工程繼續(xù)進行下去，深知外界正注視著他們，倘若風車不能如期竣工的話，幸災(zāi)樂禍的人類必然會趾高氣揚歡慶勝利?！?/p>

Fu：“動物們各自竭盡力量進行風車的重建工作，因為他們知道得很清楚，外界都在注視著他們，如果這個工程不能如期完成，幸災(zāi)樂禍的人們一定會歡心鼓舞的?！?/p>

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 “深知外界正注視著他們”. 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：“他沒有！我也沒有！這不是真的！”“莫麗喊道，開始連連騰跳，用蹄子刨地?！?/p>

Fu：“他沒摸我！我沒叫他摸我！你說的不是真的！”茉莉一邊喊一邊跳著腳用蹄子刨地。

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聲部，狗的哀叫適用于長腔，羊的咩咩、馬的嘶鳴、鴨子的呷呷叫，統(tǒng)統(tǒng)各得其所?！?/p>

Fu：“牛哞哞叫，狗汪汪吠，羊咩咩鳴，馬打著響鼻，鴨子發(fā)出一片呷呷聲響?！?/p>

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：“這一天總會來的，無非遲或早，

人類的暴政一定要推倒，

英格蘭千里沃野

將全由生靈們馳騁逍遙?！?/p>

Fu：“這一天或遲或早定要到來，

殘暴的人類將被我們推翻。

只有動物們能夠享受，

英國大地的沃土、良田?！?/p>

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.動物農(nóng)場[M]. 上海： 上海譯文出版社， 2010.

[7] 傅惟慈.動物農(nóng)場[M]. 北京： 北京十月文藝出版社， 2010.

（作者單位：大連理工大學研究生院）