A Comparison of Styles across Three Versions of Cranford in Chinese: 1927, 1937 and 1985
A Comparison of Styles across Three Versions of Cranford in Chinese: 1927, 1937 and 1985

Summary/Abstract: With the differences between westernized vernacular Chinese and mature modern Chinese, the three versions of Cranford show the development of the modern Chinese language: Woo Kwang Kien’s Cranf in 1927, Zhu Manhua’s The Forbidden City for Women in 1937, and Xu Xin and Gu Mingdong’s 1985 version published with the original title Cranford. As viewed from the overall result, Woo’s and Zhu’s translations are rich both in classical Chinese elegance and western style, embracing deep personal emotions, while Xu’s shows the well-developed quality of the Chinese language. As to the representation of the original linguistic features, Woo’s and Zhu’s translations partly present the original text, as the early modem Chinese that they employ is full of expressions with western characteristics. On the other hand, Xu’s version with its authentic modern Chinese and flexible approaches, represents Gaskell’s linguistic features in a more perfect way. This paper discusses the styles and effects in these versions from the following aspects: (1) beauty in classical Chinese; (2) the charm of appellation; (3) the translation of idiom; (4) rhotic accent and dialect; and (5) excessive westernization and modern Chinese.

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