| Author: | Luo, Jinru |
| Title: | The journey of Zhu Bajie’s image to the West : a corpus-based study |
| Advisors: | Li, Dechao (CBS) |
| Degree: | DALS |
| Year: | 2022 |
| Subject: | Wu, Cheng’en, approximately 1500-approximately 1582. Xi you ji Chinese literature -- Translations into English Wu, Cheng’en, approximately 1500-approximately 1582 -- Characters Zhu, Bajie Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Faculty of Humanities |
| Pages: | x, 202 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | This thesis is a corpus-based study of the characterisation of Zhu Bajie in the complete English translations of the famous Chinese classical novel Xiyouji. The thesis investigates Zhu Bajie's image, as constructed in the two complete English translations: The Journey to the West by Anthony Yu and Journey to the West by W. J. F. Jenner. By exploring the changes in Zhu Bajie's images across the two translations, compared to his image in the original novel, the thesis provides explanations for the reasons underlying these changes. Combining both structuralist and corpus approaches to the study of characterisation, this thesis is a new endeavour to apply a digital humanities approach to literary translation studies. Two Bajie corpora were constructed from the two complete English translations for this purpose. The thesis first explores the categories of direct definition and indirect presentation in Bajie's characterisation in terms of their textual 'keyness', including keywords, key clusters, and key sentence patterns. Then, the thesis adopts Sinclair's EUM model to investigate the changes in semantic prosody in regard to one of the top key nodes – "idiot" – and the resulting changes in Bajie's image. Based on the two self-built Bajie corpora and a parallel corpus of Xiyouji, the thesis examines the points of view presented in the two English translations, including linguistic markers of focalisation and reporting verbs, so as to explore the effects of narrative distance and stance on characterisation. It is found that both English translations construct an image of Bajie that is more positive and powerful than the original image of Bajie in the source text. Finally, the thesis points out the underlying reasons for these changes by situating the two translations in their socio-cultural and religious contexts. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6213.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 2.5 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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