Study on the English Translation of Novels from Appraisal Theory—Two Translation Versions of The Story of Kong Yiji

Abstract

Appraisal Theory, as a significant component of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), encompasses three dimensions: attitude, graduation, and engagement. This study adopts the attitude subsystem of Appraisal Theory within SFL as its theoretical framework and compares two English translations of Lu Xun’s short story The Story of Kong Yiji one by Yang Xianyi and Dai Naidie, and the other by Lan Shi ling. The study employs the UAM Corpus Tool, a corpus annotation software, to meticulously tag and statistically analyze the attitudinal resources in the original text and both translations. The analysis reveals that the translation by Yang and Dai generally contains more attitudinal resources than the original text, while Lan’s translation contains fewer. Building on these findings, this paper further explores various factors influencing translation differences, including the translators’ personal styles, target language cultural backgrounds, and translation strategies, aiming to reveal how these factors affect the reproduction of the original text’s attitudinal resources. This study aims to provide new perspectives for translation studies, enrich translation theories, and offer guidance for translation practice. Through in-depth analysis, this paper not only uncovers the complexities of the translation process but also offers new insights into understanding translation as a cross-cultural communication activity.