A Corpus-base Comparison of the Translation Style of English Versions of Hong Lou Meng
Abstract
analyzed the stylistic features of the two English versions of Hong Lou Meng by Yang Xianyi-Gladys and David Hawkes at lexical, syntactic
and textual levels to explore their translation styles. The results indicate that both translations exhibit textual coherence and readability, bearing distinct fictional characteristics and typical linguistic features of translated texts. The Yangs' version prioritizes source-text reproduction,
yielding more varied and vivid vocabulary, hence fewer explanatory expressions, fewer sentences and shorter length. By contrast, Hawkes'
version emphasizes readability for Western readers, reflected in more explanatory expressions, more sentences and longer pages.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.70711/rcha.v4i7.10108
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