A Comparative Study of Two Chinese Versions of Emma Based on Cooperation Principles

褚杨杨

【Abstract】This paper focuses on a comparative analysis between Pan Hualings version and Sun Zhilis version of Emma based on Cooperation Principles， to find out which version is more loyal to the source text and considers the readers in specific socio-cultural background.

【Keywords】cooperation principles； Emma；Chinese versions

一、Introduction to Emma and Cooperation Principles

Nowadays， new versions of Emma emerge in a large number， and the new translation version of Emma by Pan was publicized in 2011. It is necessary to investigate this translation version for the readers sake. Grice put forward Cooperation Principles， including quality， quantity， relevance and manner maxims.[1] The translation should be faithful to the original text even if the original text flouts the cooperative principles and it is necessary to reflect the conversational implicature.

二、Comparative Analyses

The analyses are carried out as follows.

Example1

Source text：

“You have made her too tall， Emma，” said Mr. Knigthley.

Emma knew that she had， but would not own it； and Mr. Elton warmly added，

“oh no！ Certainly not too tall； not in the least too tall. Consider， she is sitting down—which naturally presents a different—which in short gives exactly the idea—and the proportions must be preserved， you know. Proportions， fore-shortening.—Oh no！ It gives one exactly the idea of such a height as Miss Smiths. Exactly so indeed！”

Pans version：

“你把她画得过高了，爱玛。”奈特利先生说。

爱玛知道的确如此，但她却不愿承认。埃尔顿先生便热切地补充道：“啊，不！——当然不算过高——一点儿也不算高。考虑到她采取的是坐姿，自然看上去不同——这样正好，……它给人的高度印象正好和史密斯小姐一样——确实是这样！”

Suns version：

“你把她画得过高了，爱玛。”奈特利先生说。

爱玛知道确实如此，可她又不愿承认，这时埃尔顿先生情绪激昂的说道：“哦，没有的事！根本就不过高，一点也不过高。想想看，她是坐着的——这当然与站着不一样啦——总而言之，跟她真人丝毫不差……画的就是史密斯小姐的身高，分毫不差，确实分毫不差！”

Emma intended to make matches between Mr. Elton and Harriet. She herself misunderstood Mr. Elton liked Harriet. After finishing this picture of Harriet， Mr. Woodhouse， Mrs. Weston and Mr. Knightley made comments about it. This utterance is from Mr. Knightley. He said the Harriet is too tall in this picture. At that time， Mr. Elton showed his disagreement with Mr. Knightley that this picture is perfect. What he said flouts the quality maxim， because the truth is what Knightley said， and even Emma herself admitted it at the bottom of her heart. What Mr. Elton uttered was not true. Therefore， the conversational implicature occurs that Mr. Elton liked Emma， thats why he praised Emma extremely. What he said can reflect his exaggeration and compliment towards Emma， for example， “oh no！ Certainly not too tall； not in the least too tall； which in short gives exactly the idea； exactly so indeed”.

As for the two translation versions， there are some differences. First， Pan translated “Consider， she is sitting down—which naturally presents a different” into “考虑到她采取的是坐姿，自然看上去不同”，while Sun translated it into “想想看，她是坐着的——这当然与站着不一样啦”.

Elton knew that Emma was not good at drawing， and this picture was tall for sure， but he still praised Emmas picture and find out excuse or insufficient evidence. His intension to flatter Emma was self-evident. Therefore， the translation should better reflect Eltons exaggerated expression. By contrast，“想想看，当然，啦” sound more unquestioned than“考虑到，自然看上去不同” in expression and tone， and further embodies the illocutionary meaning.

Compare Pans version “它给人的高度印象正好和史密斯小姐一样” with Suns version“画的就是史密斯小姐的身高，分毫不差”， the former is similar to the source text in language and sentence pattern， which is called literal translation， but Suns version changes the sentence pattern， adjusts the word order. Sun adopts free translation which is more suitable to the target readers thinking and expressive model. In terms of the expressive effect， “分毫不差” is better than “正好” in expressing Mr. Eltons exaggerated idea on Emmas picture.

Example 2

Source text：

“I think her beautiful， quite beautiful.”

“Very nicely dressed， indeed； a remarkably elegant gown.”

Pans version：

“我认为她长得挺美的，相当美。”

“的确穿得很讲究，那件长裙特别漂亮。”

Suns version：

“我认为她长得漂亮，挺漂亮的。”

“衣着确实很好看，那件长裙显得特别漂亮。”

This dialogue happened between Emma and Harriet talking about Mrs. Elton. Mrs. Elton got married to Mr. Elton recently whom she intended to make match with Harriet. Mrs. Elton is very proud and tends to boast. Emma hates her. When Harriet praised Mrs. Elton was very beautiful， Emma just said her dress was beautiful. Emma flouts the relevance maxims and produces the implicature that she did not think Mrs. Elton was beautiful and she did not like her.

Both the two translation versions are loyal to the source text in linguistic， semantic and pragmatic aspects. They did not mention the potential meaning that Mrs. Elton is not beautiful by saying “的确穿得很讲究，那件长裙特别漂亮” and “衣着确实很好看，那件长裙显得特别漂亮”， which can reflect Emmas dislike of Mrs. Elton to a large degree by flouting the relevance maxim and give the target readers the same humorous effect as the source text readers.

三、Conclusion

To sum up， both Pans and Suns versions reflect the illocutionary meaning and the conversational implicature. By contrast， Pans version is more faithful and equivalent with the source text in linguistic and semantic aspect， whereas， Suns version focuses much more on the pragmatic effect which makes the target readers understand the potential meanings with fewer efforts.

Reference：

[1] Grice， Paul. "Logic and Conversation". Cole， P.&Morgan; J. L Syntax and Semantics （Vol.3）：Speech Acts. New York： Academic Press， 1975.41-58.

[2] Hatim， Basil&Ian;， Mason. Discourse and the Translator. London： Longman Press， 1990.93.