ABSTRACT

Qian Zhongshu’s Fortress Besieged is a great work which gains a wide attention at home and abroad. The original work uses many satirical humors to portray the intellectual and the academic environment then in China. Owing to cultural differences existing in English and Chinese, it is often hard for readers to understand the deep meaning of the original work. To reproduce the original work’s satirical humor, Kelly and Mao’s translation adopts the target language cultural strategy.

This paper analyzes the strategies employed by Kelly and Mao in their rendition of the satirical humor in Qian’s novel from the perspective of Linguistic Adaptability put forward by Verschueren. By treating the use of language in the text as a dynamic process, the author’s exploration is carried out from four research angles: contextual correlates of adaptability, structural objects of adaptability, dynamics of adaptability and salience of adaptation process highlighting the three notions of adaptability, variability, negotiability. It is concluded that the application of Linguistic Adaptability is viable for reproducing the same satirical effect in the target language.

Key Words: Linguistic Adaptability; satirical humor; Fortress Besieged.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One INTRODUCTION-1

1.1 Brief Introduction to Fortress Besieged.-1

1.2 Brief Introduction to the Translation of Fortress Besieged-1

1.3 Framework of the Paper-2

Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW-4

2.1 Previous Studies on Translation of Fortress Besieged-4

2.1.1 Studies Abroad-4

2.1.2 Domestic Studies-4

2.2 Significance of the Study-5

Chapter Three LINGUISTIC ADAPTABILITY IN TRANSLATION-6

3.1 Generation Introduction to Linguistic Adaptability-6

3.2 Three Key Notions and Four Angles of Investigation-7

3.3 Application of Linguistic Adaptation-9

Chapter Four TRANSLATION OF SATRICAL HUMOR IN FORTRESS BESIEGED-11

4.1 Adaptation of Satirical Humor under the Linguistic Context-11

4.1.1 Adaptation at the phonology level-11

4.1.2 Adaptation at the lexical level-12

4.1.3 Adaptation at the semantic level-13

4.1.4 Adaptation at the textual level.-14

4.2 Adaptation of Satirical Humor under the Communicative Context-15

4.2.1 Adaptation to the physical world-15

4.2.2 Adaptation to the Social World.-16

4.2.3 Adaptation to the mental world-17

Chapter Five CONCLUSION-19

REFERENCES-20