TY - CHAP
T1 - Normalization, motivation, and reception
T2 - A corpus-based lexical study of the four english translations of louis cha’s martial arts fiction
AU - Wu, Kan
AU - Li, Dechao
N1 - Funding Information:
This is an updated and expanded version of the authors’ Chinese paper 基於語料庫的英譯金庸 小說詞彙範化研究及啟示 “Lexical Normalization in English Translations of Jin Yong’s Martial Arts Fiction: A Corpus-based Study” which was published in 《亞太跨學科翻譯研 究》(第七輯)“Asia Pacific Interdisciplinary Translation Studies” (issue no. 7), Beijing: Tsinghua University Press, 2018/2, pp. 93–106. A Project Supported by Scientific Research Fund of Zhejiang Provincial Education Department (Y202044693).
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021.
PY - 2021/10/11
Y1 - 2021/10/11
N2 - Combining both qualitative and quantitative methods in the research design, the present study examines the normalizing tendencies in the translations of Louis Cha’s martial arts fiction in such categories as lexical richness, normalized POS distributions, high-frequency words, and the naturalizing percentages of special martial-arts terminology. The result shows that among the four existing translations of the fiction, Minford’s one is marked by the highest degree of lexical normalization and enjoys the best reception in overseas markets. Closely following Minford’s tendency of lexical choices, Holmwood’s translation has gained instant popularity since its debut in 2018. Meanwhile, Mok’s rendition, which has a medium level of lexical normalization, has received the most negative feedback from foreign readers. On the other hand, Earnshaw’s translation, which has the lowest level of lexical normalization, has the most divided and varied reception among its readers. It is further revealed that the translators’ decisions for their lexical choices are highly governed by their translating motivation, which in turn affects the reception of their translations.
AB - Combining both qualitative and quantitative methods in the research design, the present study examines the normalizing tendencies in the translations of Louis Cha’s martial arts fiction in such categories as lexical richness, normalized POS distributions, high-frequency words, and the naturalizing percentages of special martial-arts terminology. The result shows that among the four existing translations of the fiction, Minford’s one is marked by the highest degree of lexical normalization and enjoys the best reception in overseas markets. Closely following Minford’s tendency of lexical choices, Holmwood’s translation has gained instant popularity since its debut in 2018. Meanwhile, Mok’s rendition, which has a medium level of lexical normalization, has received the most negative feedback from foreign readers. On the other hand, Earnshaw’s translation, which has the lowest level of lexical normalization, has the most divided and varied reception among its readers. It is further revealed that the translators’ decisions for their lexical choices are highly governed by their translating motivation, which in turn affects the reception of their translations.
KW - Louis Cha
KW - Normalization
KW - Reception
KW - Translation of martial arts fiction
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85117175056&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-981-16-4918-9_7
DO - 10.1007/978-981-16-4918-9_7
M3 - Chapter in an edited book (as author)
AN - SCOPUS:85117175056
SN - 9789811649172
T3 - New Frontiers in Translation Studies
SP - 181
EP - 199
BT - New Perspectives on Corpus Translation Studies
A2 - Wang, Vincent X.
A2 - Lim, Lily
A2 - Li, Defeng
PB - Springer Singapore
CY - Singapore
ER -