对《尤利西斯》两版译文的对比鉴赏

Constract:Before comparing the two translated versions of Ulysses, we should have a thorough understanding of this essay. The reason why people feel differently because they stand in different standpoints that comes from different cultural background and personal experience. So firstly we have to know exactly what reasons make this work readable and acceptable.Facing the same essay, the translators may not have the same understanding of it. On the basis of understanding the authentic meaning of the original text the translators always have different thinking about the additional meaning shown by obscure expressions. As non-native speakers, without completely knowing the factors that have various influence on the author, such as social context and cultural background, translators will easily misunderstand the meaning expressed ambiguously.Ulysses,a great work of stream-consciousness, was written by James Joyce in the early 20th century. This essay, in the beginning, mainly shows readers three independent stories that turn out to be one story in the end. The author showed readers the figures by describing their talks and inner thoughts. All these writing techniques make the translation more diversified.Under a complex background and influenced by Greek mythology, the writer has experienced a lot during his miserable childhood. For instance, James Joyce worshiped the hero Odysseus, also called Ulysses in Latin, when he was a child. At the same time, James was suffered from the wars and Irish nationality. Maybe these experience had inspired James Joyce to create the figures who similarly lead a miserable life. Therefore, in this way, we have to take consideration the writer’s thinking into translating and think as the author did to make the translated version more accurate.Undoubtedly, the translated version will not be same because of these reasons. However, the two versions we are about to compare are basically comfort to the meaning of the original text. I will compare this two from several perspectives in order to figure out what lead translators translate differently.Comparison&analysisWord-choosing1.Grammatically, for the limit of the original text, the translated version have to largely comfort to the syntactic structure of the original one. However, translators are allowed to choose different words that shows their lexical diversity and writing styles.Eg. It must be a movement then, an actuality of the possible as possible. Aristotle’s phrase formed itself within the gabbled verses and ......(Jin’version)那么，一定是一种运动了，可能性因为有可能而成为现实。

在急促而含糊的朗诵中，亚里士多德的论断形成了...(Xiao’s version) 说来那肯定是一种运动了，可能性由于有可能而变为现实。

在急促而咬字不清的朗诵中，亚里士多德的名字浮现出来....From the two versions, limited by the original text, the two translated version are similar in sentence structure and even in punctuation. But the Jin and Xiao choose the words differently for their writing habits and their understanding on the original language. There are two different translations: gabbled and phrase. Jin translated gabble as ‘急促而含糊的’ while Xiao translated as ‘急促而咬字不清’. For me, I prefer the Jin’s version for the balance of the sentence structure of translated version, namely the ‘急促’ and ‘含糊’. Actually there’s no fixed definition on that which words should be chosen for the same original text. But according to many translation principles that translators should give more priority to the readers we are supposed to comply with the language habits of Chinese in order to better deliver the meaning of the author. However, the translation of ‘phrase’ differs in the two versions. Jin translated it as ‘论断’ and Xiao regarded it as the ‘名字’. Unlike choosing different words, these two words have completely meanings for the their different understanding on the ‘phrase’. So which one is better? I think it should be translated as ‘名言’ according to the context.Linguistic style1.The translator’s own style will become a part of the target text. There is also a big difference between the two versions’ style. The Jin’s writing style is more oral while the Xiao’s more formal. That’s why readers may have different attitude and opinion toward the same essay. Which style is better largely depends on the readers’ appetite. At the same time, the style of the original text can’t be neglected. Through reading this narrative fiction, the authors described this story by depicting the talks and inner thoughts.By comparing the two translated versions, the Jin’s version is undoubtedly more easy to understand by using conciseness, but Xiao’s version is more like a literary work and more readable for its formal expression that is closer to the style of the original text. The two versions both have their merits, we can’t merely give a judge through excerpts. The two translators are proficient in understanding the author then expressing in their own words.In general, Jin’s version is more acceptable but somewhere he didn’t consistently follow his translation principles.Eg. --First, our little financial settlement, he said.(Jin’s version) “首先，咱们先来小小的财务结算”，他说。