English Stylistics in a Chinese-English literary translation classroom

ABSTRACT

This study describes a stylistics-based pedagogical approach to literary translation. Such a stylistic approach was conceived in an attempt to resolve what might be seen as a paradox in today’s classroom: that despite style being persistently invoked as a top priority in literary translation, it is seldom examined in systematic detail or dissected into operable parts. It is proposed here that a set of tools can be defined, taught and explored through the discipline of stylistics to assist in the accomplishment of the style imperative. The study examines first the theoretical background to the approach and pedagogical motivations underpinning it. It then details the design and implementation of a semester-long course entitled ‘Translating Chinese Literature’ that engages third-year translation majors in inverse literary translation at a Chinese university, zooming in on a module of linguistic foregrounding. In conclusion, outcomes of the approach are shown with reference to questionnaire responses.

KEYWORDS:

• Stylistics
• translation pedagogy
• literary translation
• inverse translation
• translation from Chinese to English

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. There is considerable terminological profusion and confusion of translation classes focusing on non-literary text types and genres. Terms such as ‘translation for special purposes,’ ‘pragmatic translation’, ‘practical translation’, and ‘instrumental translation’ come readily to mind. And the term ‘specialized translation’ has been sometimes lumped together with the abovementioned names. But here by specialized translation, I refer to text type-specific translation in both literature and non-literature.

2. TCL can be likely seen as training, albeit in a social void where market demand is irrelevant, as it may focus on adding knowledge of literary (sub)genres and their respective norms to the trainee’s subject repertoire and also imparting specific skills of (re)creating generic correspondences. But the value of such information for literary translation practice is limited. In the words of Christiane Nord, ‘a literary text usually has to be regarded as the result of an individual creative process. Its (artistic) significance lies precisely in the fact that it does not reproduce existing text models (in that case it would be regarded as epigonic), but represents an original innovation’ (2005, 22).

3. Although (English) stylistics started with a focus on the literary form, especially high literature, it is increasingly engaged with all the other genres and text types. Also stylistic concepts and models originally generated from analysis of literature are recognized as applicable to the non-literary as well. The need for literary translation classes like TCL to foster ability of stylistic analysis across genres and text types is underlined by the fact that university programmes cannot keep up with the ever diversifying market of language mediation. The list of specialized translation courses already on offer in China’s BTI programmes is not short. It includes commercial/financial translation, mass media translation, government document translation, legal translation, science and technology translation, advertising translation, translation of texts in popular culture, social sciences and the arts, and more recently film subtitling plus literary translation. The proliferation of specialized courses means a cluttered programme. Programme administers are beginning to realize the impossibility of keeping abreast with market demands.

4. Since students generally exhibit an eagerness to try out newly learned techniques, it might be worth stressing that so far as foregrounding is used as a literary technique, it may be overdone. A style that is highly foregrounded (because it features numerous conspicuous deviations and/or parallelisms) may draw undue attention to language itself and prevent the reader from experiencing the imaginative world. Hence, a ‘stylistic balance’ may be pursued (Boutler 2007, 76).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities/Undergraduate Teaching Reform and Research Program [15010060]; Fundamental Research Funds of Beijing Foreign Studies University [2015].