Foreignized Translation of Onomatopoeia in The Last Lover

Abstract

The onomatopoeia in literary works frequently provokes translation problems and no consensus has been reached by translators. This study aims to explore the translation of onomatopoeia between Chinese and English, two drastically different languages, with a case of the translation of Can Xue’s novel The Last Lover by Annelise Finegan Wasmoen. A detailed textual analysis has detected three major translation strategies: italicized transliteration, italicized transliteration plus target equivalents, and italicized transliteration plus explanation, with the second one occupying a lion’s share. All the strategies demonstrate obvious efforts of foreignizing the translated onomatopoeia and produce a strengthened foreign effect. The facts that The Last Lover won the Best Translated Book in 2015 and that the statistics suggest a positive readers’ response show that onomatopoeia, non-arbitrary across languages, has its potential to be transferred successfully between languages and cultures. A foreignizing translation strategy makes it possible for the sound effects of the onomatopoeia of the original to be preserved and for the target readers to experience something foreign, while its acceptance suggests the increased tolerance for translated literary works in the target system.