论文

摘 要

幽默是人类社会的普遍现象，是人类生活和交际中不可或缺的一部分。作为一种语言现象，它有着特殊的语用效果。随着信息化的不断发展，各国之间的文化交流日益频繁，越来越多的研究者们开始研究言语幽默。幽默理论呈现出仁者见仁智者见智的不同视角。

本文以言语幽默概论为理论指导，选取老舍的小说《二马》为例本，以《二马》中的汉语幽默和其对应的英译文本为语料，建立小型数据库。通过描写和分析语料，从而得出《二马》的幽默特征及其翻译策略。

研究发现：1. 数据库中呈现了10种叙述策略，各种策略所占比例从高到低为：明喻55.2%，暗喻8.8%，嘲笑7.2%,讽刺7.2%,夸张6.4%，修辞疑问句6.4%，对比5.6%,反语1.6%，典故0.8%，重复0.8%。此外，研究结果显示，其英译本呈现了叙述策略的5种翻译方法，所占比例从高到低为：直译42.12%，意译36.26%，换译19.35%，省略1.82%，合译0.45%。2. 数据库中发现了本源概念的使用，其在汉语文本中所占比例为10.4%，其翻译方法主要有四种，所占比例从高到低为换译占46.15%，意译38.47%，直译7.69%，省略7.69%。

研究结果表明，通过分析《二马》中幽默叙述策略及其英译本的翻译方法，不仅能为读者提供研究幽默文本的参考方法，而且为今后的幽默研究和实践提供了第一手的资料和一定的理论依据。

关键词：言语幽默概论；本源概念；二马；翻译模式等

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Abstract

Humor, a universal phenomenon in human society, is an indispensable part of human life and communication. As a kind of language phenomenon, it has a special pragmatic effect. With the continuous development of information and frequent cultural exchange between countries, more and more scholars are beginning to study verbal humor to help readers get a better understanding of humor texts.

This research establishes a bilingual parallel database for verbal humor of Lao She‘s novel ―Er Ma‖ and its English translation “Mr. Ma and Son” by Julie Jimmerson according to narrative strategies and translating patterns. Based on the General Theory of Verbal Humor, this paper expounds the characteristics of the verbal humor and its translation in “Mr. Ma and Son”.

By meticulous study and analysis, some major findings can be summarized as follows:

Firstly, there are ten narrative strategies occurring in the Chinese version of Lao She‘s novel “Mr. Ma and Son”. The most frequently used narrative strategy is simile accounting for 55.2%, ranking before metaphor with 8.8%. Ridicule ranks third, taking up 7.2%, followed by sarcasm with 7.2%. Hyperbole ranks fifth, accounting for 6.4%, followed by rhetorical question with 6.4%. Antithesis is at number seven taking up 5.6% followed by irony with 1.6%. The least employed ones are allusion and repletion, each taking up 0.8%. What‘s more, by studying the translating patterns of the ten narrative strategies, the research reveals that five translating patterns are employed by Julie Jimmerson. From the highest to the lowest are literal translation accounting for 42.12%, free translation for 36.26%, substitution for 19.35%, omission for 1.82% and mistranslation for 0.45%.

Secondly, the research reveals that a special language that is an alien source is also employed by Lao She accounting for 10.4%. Also, four translating patterns are used by Julie Jimmerson, that are, substitution taking up the highest with 46.15%, followed by free translation with 38.47%, literal translation with 7.69% and omission

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also with 7.69%.

Above all, studies on verbal humor, and its translating pattern of “Mr. Ma and Son”, not only provide readers with a new approach to humorous text, but also offer first hand data and a new theoretical basis for the future translation research and practice.

Key Words : the General Theory of Verbal Humor; alien sources; Mr. Ma and Son ; translating patterns

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Contents

Introduction………………………………..…........................….…………………...1 1. Literature Review…….............................................................................................2 1.1. Studies on Mr. Ma and Son..................................................................................3 1.2. Studies on GTVH abroad…………......…………………..………………........4 1.3. Studies on GTVH at home…….….…...…………………………..………..….6 1.4. Summary……………......………………………….…….…………………….7

2. Theoretical Foundation………...…............................…………………………….8

2.1. A brief introduction to GTVH.............................................................................8 2.2. Key concepts of knowledge resources….....………………...………..………..9 2.3. Summary…………………………………………………………...……….…11 3. Collection and Analysis .........................................................................................12 3.1. Procedure of establishing the database for verbal humor in Er Ma.........…….12 3.2. Results in the database……......………………………………………………13 3.3. Verbal humor conveyed by rhetorical devices and its translation…….............13 3.4. Verbal humor conveyed by alien sources and its translation…......….………..25 3.5. Summary ……………......………………………...………………………….27 4. Conclusion…….......................................................................................................28 Bibliography...............................................................................................................30 Acknowledgments.....................................................................................................32

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Introduction

This chapter gives a brief introduction to this thesis, which includes research background, research methodology, research purpose and thesis structure.

Humor is a universal phenomenon in human society and studies on it fall in different aspects such as philosophy, psychology, medicine, anthropology, literature, sociology, linguistics, etc. By studying the western humor theory, we can find that it may date back to Plato and Aristotle of ancient Greece, and then it is continuously revised and developed (Ge Lingling, 2012: 35). As a part of the verbal communication, humor is everywhere in our daily life but is a difficult subject to study and much more difficult is its translation (Ge Lingling, 2011: 117).

Lao She is not only a very famous and outstanding writer but also a master of humor all over the world so his works are worth studying. He has great artistic talents and excels at novel, short story, essay, comedy and vernacular poetry. In 1920s, when he was in England, he wrote a great quantity of works, among which Mr. Ma and Son was the last extremely excellent work in that period. So far, studies of this novel have involved the image of its characters, culture, rhetoric devices, translation and realistic significance, etc. But no researches on its features of verbal humor can be found in the literature from CNKI, let alone its translation patterns.

At home and abroad, the General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH) is so far the only full-fledged humor theory and it has been applied to various fields involving movies, comics, dialogues, sketches, novel, etc. As a result, in this thesis the author will take the General Theory of Verbal Humor as the theoretical basis to analyse the features of the verbal humor and its English translation of Mr. Ma and Son.

The research methods are as follows:

The research data are extracted from the text of Lao She‘s novel Er Ma and its English translation MR. Ma and Son by Julie Jimmerson. Then, the database is established according to the subject this research mainly concentrates on. Besides, the

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method of classification is employed in collecting data for the compiled database and statistical method is used to calculate the percentage of each translation pattern, narrative strategy and alien sources in Er Ma and its English translation. Finally, methods of summarization, classification, quantitative and qualitative analysis are adopted in analyzing the data in the database.

The purpose of the research is to describe narrative strategies and alien sources in Lao She‘s ―Er Ma‖ and analyze their translating patterns of its English translation “Mr. Ma and Son”. This research hopes studies on verbal humor and its translating pattern of “Mr. Ma and Son” not only provide readers‘ a new approach to homor text but also offer the first hand data and a new theoretical basis for the future translation research and practice.

This thesis is composed of five chapters:

Chapter one is intended as a general introduction to the whole research including research background, research methodology, research purpose and significance, thesis structure.Chapter two presents a literature review on studies on Mr. Ma and Son and studies on GTVH abroad and at home. Chapter three gives a brief introduction to GTVH, applications of GTVH to this research and key concepts of knowledge resources.Chapter four shows data collection, procedure of establishing the database for verbal humor in Er Ma, results in the database, verbal humor conveyed by narrative strategies, alien sources and their translating patterns.Chapter five ends with the conclusion of the research including a brief summary, major findings of the research, limitations in the research and suggestions for future research.

1. Literature Review

In this chapter, the author reviews studies on Er Ma and its translation and in China. Then, studies on GTVH at home and abroad and its application to different fields from various perspectives are also presented. After a critical review of the above aspects, a summary is designed to account for the specific subject of this research.

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1.1. Studies on Er Ma and its translation

Lao she's \" Er Ma \" is a very good novrl as for its content and meaning. It is worth further understanding, digging, reading and appreciating. So many people study it from different aspects such as image of the character, culture, rhetoric translation, realistic meaning, etc.

From the perspective of image of the character, the most notable representatives are Yang Guoguang (2013: 5) and Pan Yuanyuan (2012: 10). The former analyses the images of old Ma in his book The Analysis Images of Old Ma, which mainly falls in the following aspects: a lack of the competitive consciousness; being concerned about face-saving; the pursuit of leisure life; having strong feudalish ideology; despising business. While the latter divides the images into three parts in his book The Analysis Images of Mr Ma and Son: the image of the Chinese in their own perception; the image of the Chinese in English perception and the image of the English.

From the perspective of cultural analysis, Zhou Lina (2010: 56) in his paper A New Analysis on the Culture of Er Ma expresses his way of thinking about the relationship between culture and humanity. Cao Suping (2008: 29) analyses the possibility of cross-cultural dialogue of love in exotic society and the reasons for the failure, which tells us that only China has become prosperous and Britain abandons the prejudice, cross-cultural dialogues can be successfully achieved.

From the perspective of rhetoric, Chinese scholars tend to apply the theory of translation norms to studies on Mr. Ma and Son. According to a statistical calculation in Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), there is 0 paper in key journals and 5 excellent postgraduate theses. Among the 5 excellent postgraduate theses, only two thesis deal with micro study of Mr. Ma and Son from rhetoric perspective. They are the translation strategy of metaphor by Liu Jing (2009: 214), strategy of de-familiarization by Liu Xueming and Chen Yidong (Liu Xueming, Chen Yidong, 2007: 1).

From the perspective of translation, Zheng Jianping‘s thesis actually is a descriptive study of Julie Jimmerson‘s (an American translator) solutions to some

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translation phenomena in her translation of Mr. Ma and Son from the perspective of polysystem theory aiming to verify or falsify some ideas of the theory. The writer first reviews by and large some previous studies on its English versions, then introduces the main ideas of polysystem theory concisely (Zheng Jianping, 2008: 8). He Tao studies it from the Adaptation Theory. He holds that the success of the translation lies in the fact that the translator succeeds in adapting to different contexts and concludes that translation is a process of language shift and culture transmission in which the translator makes dynamic adaptations to contextual correlates with different degrees of salience under the guidance of translation purpose. During the translation process, translators continuously make choices to achieve the translation purpose (He Tao, 2011: 9).

To sum up, Lao she's \" Er Ma \" is a very outstanding humorous novel. Scholars have studied it from different perspectives. Among the different perspectives , the author finds that there are no studies on Mr. Ma and Son from the perspective of GTVH in CNKI. As a consequence, this research aims to apply GTVH to the study of the features of Chinese humorous texts focusing on a systematic analysis of Mr. Ma and Son with its Chinese-English bilingual parallel database.

1.2. Studies on the GTVH abroad

The GTVH was first put forward by Attaodo in 19. Scholars abroad conduct their own researches on GTVH mainly falling in five fields.

From the perspective of the humor function of irony, Penny M. Pexman, Melanie Glen wright, Andrea Krol ,Tammy James (2005) in his paper An Acquired Taste: Children's Perceptions of Humor and Teasing in Verbal Irony expresses that around 5 or 6 years of age, children begin to recognize that speakers who make ironic remarks do not believe what they literally say, but children of the same age do not show appreciation for the humor function of irony (Dews et al, 1996: 67; Harris & Pexman, 2003: 34).

From the perspective of linguistic theories of humor, the most notable representative is Arvo Krikmann. He discusses the following subtopics: Arthur

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Koestler‘s bisociation theory of humor and its reception; Victor Raskin‘s script-based theory of jokes (SSTH) in his \"Semantic Mechanisms of Humor; the General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH) by Victor Raskin and Salvatore Attardo and the attempt of testing GTVH by Willibald Ruch; Salvatore Attardo‘s Linear Theory of Humor (IDM); The Analysis of Puns by Attardo; Humour and Pragmatic Maxims (Raskin, Attardo, etc.); Attardo‘s Setup-Incongruity-Resolution -Model (SIR); the Further Taxonomy of ―Logical Mechanisms‖ (LM) of jokes by Attardo, Hempelmann, and Di Maio; the ―Anti-Festschrift‖ for Victor Raskin (Arvo Krikmann, 2006: 27)

From the perspective of poems, Jelena Vlašić Duić‘‘s paper Humor on the Lexicological Level in VUČETIĆ’S Libar Dubaja Marusa shows that the poetic text is an ideal base for that kind of humor and that all comic actions are at the same time also stylistic, because the language action itself is funny (Jelena Vlašić Duić, 2011: 1).

From the perspective of cognitive informatics of natural language, M.Taylor and V. Raskin deal with a contribution of computational analysis of verbal humor to natural language cognition ( M.Taylor,V. Raskin, 2013: 25-45).

To sum up, the General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH) is so far the only full-fledged humor theory and it has been applied to various fields. Scholars have studied on it from different perspectives. Among the different perspectives, the author finds that the GTVH hasn‘t been applied to the studies of Chinese humorous texts. As a result, this research tries to apply the GTVH to the study of Mr. Ma and Son with its Chinese-English bilingual parallel database.

1.3. Studies on the GTVH at home

After Lin Yutang‘s translation, the concept of \"humor\" is widely accepted in China. Chinese scholars' researches on humor show a different perspective. Some scholars believe that China has humorous theorIES since ancient times so they define and study Chinese humor. However, at present, there are a large number of studies on THE GTVH at home falling in various fields such as movie, variety show, etc.

The notable scholars who apply the GTVH to movies are Wang Nuan (2009: 68)

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and Han Junling (2013: 37). The former endeavors to analyze humor by cooperative principle and speech act theory from the pragmatic perspective, taking verbal humor as the object of this research in his book A Pragmatic Analysis of Verbal Humor in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, while the latter makes an in-depth example analysis of The Big Bang Theory‘s translation strategies from the perspective of the functional equivalence theory, aiming to explore a set of relatively universal and feasible principles and strategies to subtitle translation of verbal humors in sitcoms, and thereby providing guidance and reference for translators in his book On Subtitle Translation of Verbal Humor in The Big Bang Theory from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence.

Besides, Yang Xiaoping and Li Xiaoling also apply the GTVH to the analysis of TV shows. Yang Xiaoping (2012: 54) in her paper A Relevance-Theoretical Analysis of Verbal Humor in Conan analyses the verbal humor in Conan to explain the mechanism of verbal humor and the strategies used. Li Xiaoling (2012: 48) in his paper The Pragmatics Study of the Verbal Humor in American Talk Show, After the collection of American talk show of Joe Huang and statistic analysis, the author concludes that: firstly , there are close relationship between verbal humor and CP, relevance theory and politeness principle. Through the analysis of the verbal humor, the author talks about how to make verbal humor in the conversation. Most of the verbal humor in the American talk show achieved the humorous effect by violating the different maxims of the cooperative principle. Sometimes, the joke in the American talk shows violates the maxims and utilizes relevance theory purposely in order to make fun of some guys or even the speaker himself in the program.

Among Chinese scholars who study the GTVH, Ge Lingling and He Yuanjian are typical representatives. Ge Lingling (2011: 117) in her paper On the Patterns for Translating Alien Sources in Humorous Texts --A Study Based on a Chinese-English Bilingual Parallel Corpus, takes the General Theory of Verbal Humor as its theoretical framework to investigate how alien sources affect a humorous text in its production and interpretation and explore how many patterns exist for translating alien sources in the humorous text. Her paper shows that alien sources have great

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influence on eliciting and interpreting humor and different patterns determine successful transference of alien sources in humorous texts( Ge Lingling, 2012: 117). In her another paper with He Yuanjian (2012: 35), On the Features of Chinese Humorous Texts Based on the General Theory of Verbal Humor, they investigate the features of Chinese humorous texts focusing on a systematic analysis of Fortress Besieged with its Chinese-English bilingual parallel corpus and conclude that Chinese humorous texts have some distinct features in the surface and deep parameters which reflect three maxims in the interpretation of Chinese humorous texts: Sincerity Maxim，Similarity Maxim and Congruity Maxim ( Ge Lingling & He Yuanjian, 2012: 35) .

Motivated by Ge Lingling and He Yuanjian, the author attempts to apply the GTVH to the study of the verbal humor and translating patterns of Mr. Ma and Son with its Chinese-English bilingual parallel datsbase. This thesis will not only provide readers with a new approach to homorous text but also offer the first hand data and a new theoretical basis for the future translation research and practice.

1.4 . Summary

In the past, studies on the GTVH fall in different aspects such as philosophy, psychology, medicine, anthropology, literature, sociology, linguistics, etc. At home and abroad, its value is immeasurable and its application covers various fields such as movies, variety shows, humorous novels, etc. Er Ma is a typical representative of Lao she's humorous novel, but no scholars in China and abroad have studied it from the GTVH. As a consequence, the author applies GTVH to analyzing features of the verbal humor and its translation patterns of Er Ma.

2. Theoretical Foundation

Based on the Semantic theory of humor, the GTVH is first proposed. ―Script Theory Revised: Joke Similarity and Joke Representation Model‖, one of the works which Raskin and Attardo have published jointly (Ge Lingling & He Yuanjian, 2012: 108). Since this research is based on the GTVH, this chapter gives a brief introduction

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to the GTVH in the first section and key concepts of knowledge resources in the second section.

2.1. A brief introduction to the GTVH

The GTVH, a theoretical linguistics based on the development of Semantic Script

Theory of Humor (SSTH), is supposed to account, in principle, for any type of humorous text.

Revison of the SSTH broadens its scope. Although the SSTH was a ―semantic‖ theory of humor, the GTVH is a linguistic theory ―at large‖—that is, it includes other areas of linguistics as well, including most notably, textual linguistics, the theory of narrativity and pragmatics. These broadenings are achieved by the introduction of five other knowledge resources (KR) that must be tapped into generating a joke, in addition to the script opposition from the SSTH. The KRs are the script opposition (SO), the logical mechanism (LM), the target (TA), the narrative strategy (NS), the language (LA), and the situation (SI). The GTVH also incorporates the idea of ―joke similarity‖ and dedicates a great deal of effort to establishing the concept formally. The following sections will introduce the six KRs, and then the concept of joke similarity will be discussed in detail. A more complete exposition of the GTVH, still partially under development, especially concerning empirical verification of its claims, will be available in Attardo and Raskin (Ruch, 1993: 223) .

2.2. Key concepts of knowledge resources

One of the works Raskin and Attardo has published jointly is ―Script Theory Revised: Joke Similarity and Joke Representation Model‖. The article aims to integrate Raskin‘s script-based theory (SSTH) with the five-level representation model of jokes outlined in the earlier works by Attardo. As the result, the six level hierarchical representation model of verbal jokes is proposed which pursues to be, at the same time, a device for evaluating the ―semantic distance‖, or degree of similarity between particular joke texts. The empirical testbed of the model is limited to seven variants of the well-known light bulb joke, some of them being taken from real sources, others obviously improvised by the authors themselves.

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Each variant allegedly differs from others exactly in one particular KR. (Arvo Krikmann, 2006: 68)

2.2.1. Language

Language (LA) includes all the choices at the phonetic, phonologic, morphophonemic, morphologic, lexic, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic levels of language structure that the speaker is still free to make, given that everything else in the joke is already given and cannot be tinkered with, or further…basically, it is the content of the joke which has to be expressed within the parameter of language, and still further, even: parameter of language is responsible for exact wording and placement of the punchline. Or, in simplified perspective, the LA level is considered responsible for any change not delegated to some higher level KR (Arvo Krikmann, 2006: 69).

2.2.2. Narrative strategy

Narrative strategy (NS) means ―the genre, or rather microgenre [---] of the joke, in other words, whether the text of the joke is set up as expository, as a riddle, as a question-and-answer sequence, and so on‖ (Arvo Krikmann, 2006: 68). The joke also can be expanded to a longer dialogue, customary to folk narratives triple sequence that can be constructed, the newspaper advertisement form applied, etc. When building the narrative strategy, it is important to keep the text sufficiently nonredundant in order not to spoil the punchline (Arvo Krikmann, 2006: 69).

2.2.3. Target

Target (TA) is the personalized ―object‖ (individual and/or member of a group) of the joke. Attardo & Raskin (1996: 301–302) provide examples of the rich choice of ethnically, socially or politically marked personages who have been considered apposite to fulfil the role of targets in the light bulb joke. They admit that the number of jokes without clear targets is quite small, but emphasize the exclusively conventional character of ethnic or other choices for embodiments of stupidity and deny any correspondence between such stereotypes and reality (Arvo Krikmann, 2006: 70).

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2.2.4. Situation

Situation (SI) consists of the rest of the content constituents or ―props‖ of the joke, like other participants beside the target, activities, objects, instruments, etc. For example, the stupidity of the Polish can be manifested in many ―synonymous‖ ways: several bizarre modes of screwing the light bulb, holding the toothbrush and moving one‘s head, holding the fan and shaking one‘s head, turning the car upside down to empty the car ashtray, etc (Arvo Krikmann, 2006: 70).

2.2.5. Logical mechanism

Logical mechanism (LM) has proved the most problematic element in the GTVH model (for further discussion, see also here below). Here, ―logical‖ does not stand for deductive logic or strict formal logicality but rather should be understood in some looser quotidian sense ‗rational thinking and acting‘ or even ‗ontological possibility‘. For example, the usual reverse method of bulb-screwing has proved successful and is therefore ―fully justified logically‖, the reverse method of car washing is ―somewhat faultier logically‖, but the method of emptying the ashtray and turning the ceiling instead of the table in the bulb joke are ―equally faulty‖ (Arvo Krikmann, 2006: 303–304). The common LM for the whole joke series under discussion is called figure-ground reversal. More generally, whatever manifestations of false logic are being placed at the LM level, including other kinds of reversals and chiasms with ABBA mirror structure, false analogy and false priming (i.e. usages of the so-called ‗garden path technique‘), tricks made by means of polysemy and homonymy in puns. There is also the justification of the absurdity and pseudo-logic in jokes (Arvo Krikmann, 2006: 71) .

2.2.6. Script opposition

Script opposition (SO) is the only level of Raskin‘s SSTH incorporated into the GTVH model. Attardo & Raskin find the oppositions of the lowest level in SSTH are not to be equal in generality and put forward proposals to overcome this shortcoming (inadequate, to my mind, at least on the part of the status of the axiological ‗good/bad‘ opposition that seems to engage an universal, fundamental and omnipresent status in

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any human communication, thinking, and cognition of the world). Despite knowing well the alternative ways of categorizing, proposed by Lofti Zadeh, Eleanor Rosch, George Lakoff and others, Attardo & Raskin are hardly convinced that the hierarchical structure is the most suitable for the GTVH model. True, some alternatives are pondered, but then categorically rejected – for example, radial dislocation of KRs around the joke (Arvo Krikmann, 2006: 314), or dividing of the categories into a smaller number of levels, e.g. (SO & LM) -> (TA & SI) -> NS -> LA (Arvo Krikmann, 2006: 320), or eventual dividing of them only to ―content-oriented‖ (SO, TA, SI) and ―tool-oriented‖ (LM, NS, LA) groups (Arvo Krikmann, 2006: 322). The most serious motivation for preferring the linear hierarchy probably lies in abovementioned hope to use KR sequence ladder in measuring the ―psychological distance‖ between different joke texts, LA thus being the weakest and SO the strongest differentiator. On the other hand, it is strongly emphasized that GTVH does not aim to be a model of the real ―online‖ production of jokes, but is merely an analytical construct (Arvo Krikmann, 2006: 72).

2.3. Summary

The GTVH (Raskin & Attardo,1991: 303–304) is a humor theory based on linguistics. It was developed from the Semantic Script Theory of Humor. Generally speaking, ―script‖ refers to everything (whether true or untrue), such as events、action、quality，etc. In the concept of humor, Raskin argues that there are two necessary parts in forming humor: two scripts and script opposition. In the concept of the GTVH, Raskin and Attardo hold the opinions that the core of it are knowledge resources and the metric of joke similarity. The KRs are the script opposition (SO), the logical mechanism (LM), the target (TA), the narrative strategy (NS), the language(LA), and the situation (SI). Among six knowledge resources in the GTVH, Narrative Strategy and Language are the most important; besides, the former is often represented by rhetorical devices (Raskin, 19: 16).The narrative strategies in Mr. Ma and Son are represented by rhetorical device, while language in Mr. Ma and Son is represented by alien sources. As a result, this thesis will analyze the verbal humor in

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Mr. Ma and Son from two perspectives, that is, the rhetorical device and alien sources.

3. Data collection and Analysis

This chapter presents a bilingual parallel database for verbal humor of Lao She‘s novel ―Er Ma‖ and its English translation “Mr. Ma and Son”by Julie Jimmerson. The first section deals with procedures of establishing the database, results in the database are given in the second section. Verbal humor conveyed by rhetorical devices and its translation are presented in the third and fourth section. The last section is verbal humor conveyed by alien sources and its translation.

3.1. Procedure of establishing the bilingual parallel database

Steps of setting up the database are as follows.

First of all, the research data are extracted from the text of Lao She‘s novel Er Ma and its English translation Mr. Ma and Son and are put into an electronic Word Form.

Secondly, based on the classification of rhetorical devices and Ge Lingling‘s translation patterns, the author finds there are ten rhetorical devices: simile, metaphor, hyperbole, ridicule, rhetorical question, antithesis, sarcasm, irony, allusion and repetition.

Thirdly, statistical method is used to calculate the percentage of each rhetorical device and alien sources in Er Ma and their translation pattern (such as literal translation, free translation, substitution, omission, mistranslation) in the English translation MR Ma and Son.

Finally, the methods of quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis are also conducted in this research.

3.2. Results in the database

Among six knowledge resources in the GTVH, narrative strategy and language

are the most important; besides, the former is often represented by rhetorical devices (Raskin, 19: 16). By meticulous study and analysis, some major findings can be summarized as follows:

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南华大学外国语学院毕业论文

Firstly, there are ten narrative strategies occurring in the Chinese version of Lao She‘s novel “Mr Ma and Son”. The most frequently used narrative strategy is simile accounting for 55.2%, ranking before metaphor with 8.8%. Ridicule ranks third, taking up 7.2%, followed by sarcasm with 7.2%. Hyperbole ranks fifth, accounting for 6.4%, followed by rhetorical question with 6.4%. Antithesis is at number seven taking up 5.6% followed by irony with 1.6%. The least employed ones are allusion and repletion, each taking up 0.8%. What‘s more, by studying the translating patterns of the ten narrative strategies, the research reveals that five translating patterns are employed by Julie Jimmerson. From the highest to the lowest are literal translation accounting for 42.12%, free translation for 36.26%, substitution for 19.35%, omission for 1.82% and mistranslation for 0.45%.

Secondly, the research reveals that a special language is the alien source employed by Lao She, accounting for 10.4%, and four translating strategies are used by Julie Jimmerson, that is, substitution taking up the highest with 46.15%, followed by free translation with 38.47%, literal translation with 7.69% and omission also with 7.69%.

3.3.Verbal humor conveyed by rhetorical devices and its translation

Through the analysis of this database, we find that the translation strategies of the

verbal humor conveyed by rhetorical devices mainly lie in three kinds of conversion modes - similar conversion mode, heterogeneous conversion mode and zero-class conversion mode (He Jianyuan, 2012: 109). Similar conversion mode refers to convert the Chinese rhetorical devices into the same rhetorical devices of English, such as, simile converted into simile, metaphor into metaphor and so on. Heterogeneous conversion mode refers to the Chinese rhetorical devices converted into different rhetorical devices, such as, simile converted into metaphor and so on. Zero class conversion mode refers to Chinese rhetorical devices disappearing in its English translation, especially Chinese-specific rhetorical devices, such as the analysis of the word and so on.

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南华大学外国语学院毕业论文

Since we have found ten narrative strategies in the database, we wil analyse the verbal humor conveyed by them one by one. In the examples, the author shortens the source language into SL and the target language into TL. Translation patterns are also tagged by FT (free translation), LT (literal translation), SU (substitution), OM (omission) and MI (mistranslation).

3.3.1. Verbal humor conveyed by simile and its translation

Eg.1 [SL]：太阳从雾薄的地方射到嫩树叶儿上，一星星的闪着，象刚由水里捞出的

小淡绿珠子（老舍, 1924: 16）。

(TL): Rays of light filtered through the thin parts of the mist and shone on the tender leaves, making them sparkle and glitter, like the faint green beads of water that splash up from the river(FT).

Label: H{SO ＜ real vs．unreal(Rays of light vs the faint green beads of water．) ＞ LM ＜ concatenation＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: Rays of light) ＞ NS ＜ statement(simile) ＞ LA ＜like＞ }

In Eg1, in the source language, Lao She employs simile to express humor. He compares the tenor ―嫩树叶儿上的阳光‖ to the vehicle ―小淡绿珠子‖ so humor is conveyed by similarity, which aims to present the beauty of sunshine. In the target language, the translating strategies used by Julie Jimmerson is free translation and simile represented by ―like‖ is also employed by the translator, in which tenor is ―Rays of light on the tender leaves ‖ and vehicle is ―the faint green beads of water‖. Obviously, the imagery in the English text is the same with that in the source language. As a result, the English readers can understand the humor as well as the original language readers. What‘s more, the rhetorical device (simile) in the source language is also kept.

Eg.2 [SL]：河上的大船差不多全没挂着帆，只有几支小划子挂着白帆。在大船中间

忽悠忽悠的摇动，好像几支要往花儿上落的大白蝴蝶儿（老舍, 1924: 16）。

(TL): On the river, a few small row boats had white sails up, and flapped back and forth between the larger boats, like giant white butterflies hovering over flowers(LT).

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南华大学外国语学院毕业论文

Label: H{SO ＜ real vs． unreal(white sails vs white butterflies．) ＞ LM ＜ concatenation＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: white sails) ＞ NS ＜ statement (simile) ＞ LA ＜like＞ }

In Eg2, in the source language, Lao She employs simile to express humor, in which the tenor ―小划子挂着白帆‖ is compared to ―大白蝴蝶儿‖. So humor is also conveyed by similarity in order to present the large number of boats. In the target language, the translating strategies used by Julie Jimmerson is literal translation, where the translator also employs ―like‖ and compares the tenor ―a few small row boats had white sails up ‖ to the vehicle ―giant white butterflies‖. Apparently, the imagery in the target language is the same with the source language so the humor and the simile in source language are well preserved in the translated text.

3.3.2. Verbal humor conveyed by metaphor and its translation Eg.3 [SL]：笑涡四周的红润，只有刚下树儿的嫩红苹果敢跟她比一比（老舍, 1924:

）。

(TL): And the flushed glow of her complexion around her dimples could only be likened to the ripest, most tender apples picked fresh off the trees (FT).

Label: H{SO ＜ real vs． unreal(her dimples vs tender apples．) ＞ LM ＜ concatenation＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: her dimples) ＞ NS ＜ comment(metaphor) ＞ LA ＜be likened＞ }

In Eg3, in the source language, Lao She employs metaphor to express humor. He compares ―笑涡四周的红润‖ to ―嫩红苹果‖ so humor is conveyed by similarity in order to present the red face of Miss Wendell. In its translation, the translator uses free translation but metaphor is changed into simile by using ―be likened to‖, in which the tenor ―her dimples ‖ is compared to the vehicle ―tender apples‖. It can be seen that although the translator changes metaphor to simile, the imagery in the target language is the same with that in the source language. Therefore, by free translation the humor in the source language is well preserved in the target language.

Eg.4 [SL]：远处也是车，近处也是车，前后左右也全是车，全磁拉磁拉的响。全仆仆

吧吧的叫，把这条大街整个儿的作成一条―车海‖（老舍, 1924: 114）。

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(TL): Cars were everywhere, stretching out in the distance on all sides, all emitting smoke, squeaking and honking, transforming the street into a sea of cars (FT).

Label: H{SO ＜ real vs． unreal(Cars vs sea of cars．) ＞ LM ＜ concatenation＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: Cars) ＞ NS ＜ statement (metaphor) ＞ LA ＜transforming＞ }

In Eg4, Lao She employs metaphor to express humor. He compares ―许多的车‖ to ―车海‖ to present a lot of cars on the street. In the target language, the translator Julie Jimmerson uses free translation and he also uses metaphor, in which the tenor ―cars ‖ is compared to ―sea of cars‖ without using the analogy word ―like‖. Therefore, the humor in the English translated text is the same with that in the source language and the rhetorical device (metaphor) in the source language is still kept.

3.3.3. Verbal humor conveyed by hyperbole and its translation Eg.5 [SL]：把天下所有的坏事全加在资本家的身上，连昨晚上没睡好觉，也是资本

家闹的（老舍, 1924: 2）。

(TL): It was as if all the world's ills could be placed squarely on the shoulders of the capitalists; even if one hadn't slept well the night before (LT).

Label: H{SO ＜reasonable vs．unreasonable (even if one hadn't slept well the night before) ＞ LM ＜false reasoning＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: ills) ＞ NS ＜ comment(hyperbole) ＞ LA ＜even if＞ } It can be seen from the above example that Lao She employs hyperbole ―连昨晚上

没睡好觉，也是资本家闹的‖ to express humor in the source language, during which

humor is conveyed by overstating the evil of capitalists in order to present workers‘ hatred to capitalists. In the target language, the translating strategies used by Julie Jimmerson is literal translation. Likewise, hyperbole is represented by using ―even if one hadn't slept well the night before‖ in the target language, therefore, the imagery in the target language is the same with that in the source language and the hyperbole in the source language is still kept in the target language. Consequently, by free translation, the English readers can grasp the author‘s implied meaning.

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Eg.6 [SL]：他的喷嚏是一个比一个响，一个比一个猛；要不是鼻子长得结实，早几下

儿就打飞了（老舍, 1924: 250）。

(TL): But each sneeze grew louder and fiercer than the last---fortunately his nose was built so sturdily, otherwise it would've blown off long ago(LT).

Label: H{SO ＜ reasonable vs． unreasonable(sneeze vs blown off) ＞ LM ＜ false reasoning＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: sneeze) ＞ NS ＜ statement (hyperbole) ＞ LA ＜otherwise＞ }

Here hyperbole is conveyed by saying ―要不是鼻子长得结实，早几下儿就打飞了‖ by Lao She and the humor is conveyed by overstating each sneeze grew louder and fiercer than the last, which intends to explain that his nose was built so sturdily. In the target language, Julie Jimmerson applies literal translation, that is, ―fortunately his nose was built so sturdily, otherwise it would've blown off long ago‖. In the target language, the translator uses ―otherwise it would've blown off long ago‖ to express the humor. Obviously, the imagery and hyperbole in the source language are the same with those in the target language.

3.3.4. Verbal humor conveyed by ridicule and its translation

Eg.7 [SL]：―可是，牧师！‖她从兜儿里掏出小手绢擦了擦嘴，其实满没有擦的必要（老舍, 1924: 32）。

(TL): ―But Reverend!‖ she pulled a hankie out of her pocket and dabbed her mouth a bit ,though there was no real need to do so (LT).

Label: H{SO ＜ reasonable vs． unreasonable(there was no real need to do so) ＞ LM ＜negate＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: dabbed her mouth) ＞ NS ＜ comment (ridicule) ＞ LA ＜there was no real need＞ }

In this example, Lao She employs ridicule ―其实满没有擦的必要‖ to express humor, which aims to laugh at Mrs Wendell‘s behavior as well as present her unnecessary action. In the target language, the translating strategies is literal translation. The translator gets through the meaning by saying ―though there was no real need to do so‖ so ridicule is represented identically. Therefore, by literal translation, the rhetorical device (ridicule) and the imagery in the source language are

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conveyed well in its English translation.

Eg.8 [SL]：他既不近视，又不远视，戴着大眼镜只是为叫人看着年高有威（老舍, 1924: 36）。

(TL): Not that his sight was at all, it was just that he wanted to let people know that he venerable and prestigious age (FT) .

Label: H{SO ＜ reasonable vs． unreasonable(Not that his sight was at all) ＞ LM ＜negate＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: he wanted) ＞ NS ＜ comment (ridicule) ＞ LA ＜it was just that＞ }

Here, in the source language, Lao She employs the ridicule ―戴着大眼镜只是为叫

人看着年高有威‖ to convey the humor in order to laugh at Mr Ma‘s behavior and his

ignorant action. In the target language, free translation is put into use. In the translator‘s opinion, ridicule is represented by using ―it was just that he wanted to let people know that he venerable and prestigious age‖. It can be seen that, in the source language, the rhetorical device is the same with that in the target language. In addition, by free translation the humor in the source language is well preserved in the target language.

3.3.5. Verbal humor conveyed by rhetorical question and its translation

Eg.9 [SL]：鸡贩子养鸡不见得他准爱鸡，英国人把房子租给中国人又何尝是爱中国人

呢？（老舍, 1924: 26）

(TL): Just as the people who raise and sell chickens don‘t necessarily feel any great affection for their little charges, likewise the English who rent to Chinese can‘t really be said to like them(MI).

Label: H{SO ＜ real vs． unreal (the people who raise and sell chickens vs. the English) ＞ LM ＜negate＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: the English) ＞ NS ＜ comment (Rhetorical Question) ＞ LA ＜can‘t really＞ }

Here Lao She employs rhetorical question with interrogation mark ―英国人把房子

租给中国人又何尝是爱中国人呢？‖to express humor, which aims to present English

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people‘s scorn to the Chinese while in the target language the translator employs declarative sentence ―likewise the English who rent to Chinese can‘t really be said to like them‖ instead of the rhetorical question, that is, Julie Jimmerson uses the translation strategies of missing because the rhetorical device(rhetorical question) in source language is missing. Although the rhetorical question is missing, readers still have no difficulty in understanding the humor.

Eg.10 [SL]：―你想我能让人在我的房子里煮老鼠吃吗？‖ （老舍, 1924: 32） (TL): ―Do you really think I could stand for Chinese cooking rats in my house?‖ (LT)

Label: H{SO ＜ normal vs． informal (Chinese cooking rats) ＞ LM ＜negate＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: Chinese) ＞ NS ＜ comment (Rhetorical Question) ＞ LA ＜stand for＞ }

In this example, Lao She employs rhetorical question, that is, ―你想我能让人在我的房子里煮老鼠吃吗？to express humor, which aims to present Mrs Wendell‘s unwillingness to rent house to the Chinese. In the target language, rhetorical question is represented by using ―Do you really think I could stand for Chinese cooking rats in my house?‖ Obviously, the translator uses literal translation. As a consequence, the English readers can get across the general idea as well as the readers of the source language.

3.3.6. Verbal humor conveyed by antithesis and its translation

Eg.11 [SL]：强国的人是―人‖，弱国的呢？狗！（老舍, 1924: 24）

(TL): People from strong nations are human beings, and those from weak nations? Dogs (LT) .

Label: H{SO ＜ normal vs． informal (strong nations vs. weak nations) ＞ LM ＜parallel＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: People) ＞ NS ＜ comment (Antithesis) ＞ LA ＜Dogs＞ }

Here, in the source language, Lao She employs antithesis, that is, contrast ―强国

的人‖ with ―弱国的人‖, in which humor is conveyed by saying ―弱国的呢？狗！‖, in

order to present the different status between powerful nations and weak nations. In the

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target language, Julie Jimmerson chooses literal translation, in which antithesis is represented by using ―strong nations‖ and ―weak nations‖. Obviously, the comparison and the antithesis in the source language are still in existence in the target language.

Eg.12 [SL]：马老先生在海上四十天的工夫，就扎挣着起来一回；刚一出舱门，船往

外手里一歪，摔了个毛儿跟头；一声没出，又扶着舱门回去了。第二天起来的时候，船已经纹丝不动的在伦敦码头考了岸。小马先生比他父亲强多了，只是船过的时候，头有点发晕；过了就一点事没有了（老舍, 1924: 34）。

(TL): One fine morning after being on the boat for 40 days Mr Ma got up to stretch his legs, but just as he had climbed out of his cabin the boat rocked to the right and he took a fall; without so much as uttering a sound he learned against the cabin door and crept back in. The second time he came out, the boat was already steadily docked at London Harbor. The younger slight dizzy spell when their ship passed though the Taiwan straights; rounding Hong Kong he felt fine(MI).

Label: H{SO ＜ real vs． unreal (Mr Ma vs. the younger) ＞ LM ＜parallel＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: Mr Ma) ＞ NS ＜ statement(Antithesis) ＞ LA ＜without so much＞ }

In this example, Lao She employs antithesis, that is, by contrasting ―马老先生在

海上四十天的工夫…一声没出‖ with ―小马先生比他父亲强多了‖ to express humor,

which aims to laugh at Mr Ma‘s behavior and present the different reactions between Mr Ma and the Chinese. In the target language, antithesis is represented by using ―on the boat for 40 days Mr Ma…without so much as uttering a sound‖ and ―The younger slight dizzy spell‖. Apparently, the translator uses literal translation, that is, the rhetorical device in the source language is the same with that in the target language. In other words, the rhetorical device (antithesis) in the source language is kept.

3.3.7. Verbal humor conveyed by sarcasm and its translation

Eg.13 [SL]：英文单词记得真不少，文法的定义也背得飞熟，可是考试的时候永远至

多三十五分（老舍, 1924: 36）。

(TL): He knew quite a few English words, and the grammar rules by heart; but even so, every time he took a test he only scored 35%(LT).

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Label: H{SO ＜ reasonable vs． unreasonable (every time he took a test he only scored 35%) ＞ LM ＜negate＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: English words) ＞ NS ＜ statement(Sarcasm) ＞ LA ＜but even so＞ }

It can be seen that Lao She employs sarcasm, that is, by saying ―可是考试的时候

永远至多三十五分‖ to express humor in order to laugh at Mr Ma‘s English level, and

present Mr Ma‘s odd scores. In the target language, Julie Jimmerson translates the sarcastic sentences into ―every time he took a test he only scored 35%‖. By comparing the original texts and its English translated texts, we can find that the humor and the simile in the source language are well kept in the translated text. Consequently, by literal translation the rhetorical devices of sarcasm can be easily understood by readers.

Eg.14 [SL]：这次欧战，英国能把德国打败，就是英国兵天天吃牛肉的缘故（老舍, 1924: 46）。

(TL): After all, the reason why the English had been able to beat the Germans in the War was because their men ate beef every day (LT).

Label: H{SO ＜ reasonable vs． unreasonable (because their men ate beef every day) ＞ LM ＜mediation script＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: the English) ＞ NS ＜ statement(Sarcasm) ＞ LA ＜After all＞ }

Here in source language Lao She employs sarcasm ―英国能把德国打败，就是英国

兵天天吃牛肉的缘故‖ to express humor in order to laugh at the doctor‘s (a famous

people in local place) ridiculous words and present English people‘s arrogance. In the target language, antithesis is represented by saying ―because their men ate beef every day‖. Obviously, the translator employs literal translation to express the humor, which is easily understood by English readers.

3.3.8. Verbal humor conveyed by irony and its translation

Eg.15 [SL]：他真爱中国人：半夜睡不着的时候，总是祈祷上帝快快的叫中国变成英

国的属国；他含着热泪告诉上帝：中国人要不叫英国人管起来，这群黄脸黑头发的东西，怎

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么也升不了天堂（老舍, 1924: 20）。

(TL): And he genuinely loved the Chinese people. Sometimes in the middle of the night when he couldn‘t get to sleep, he prayed to God that China would someday be colonized by the British: with burning tears in his eyes, he beseeched the Lord: If the Chinese don‘t let the British take over, then all those masses of yellow faced, black-haired souls will never make it to neaven(LT)!

Label: H{SO ＜ reasonable vs． unreasonable (And he genuinely loved the Chinese people.) ＞ LM ＜mediation script＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: he) ＞ NS ＜ statement(Irony) ＞ LA ＜genuinely loved＞ }

In this example, Lao She employs irony ―他真爱中国人：半夜睡不着的时候，总是

祈祷上帝快快的叫中国变成英国的属国‖ to express humor. By mocking the Reverend‘s

ridiculous mental thoughts, Lao She wants to present English people‘s wild ambition of conquering China. In the target language, the translator uses ―And he genuinely loved the Chinese people. Sometimes in the middle of the night when he couldn‘t get to sleep, he prayed to God that China would someday be colonized by the British‖. It is clear that in the source language, the translator employs the same rhetorical device with the target language to convey the humor to the western readers by literal translation.

Eg.16 [SL]：P26中国城有这样的好名誉，中国学生当然也不会吃香的（老舍, 1924: 20）。

(TL): Such is the reputation Chinatown enjoys, so it‘s no great wonder that Chinese students aren‘t exactly popular(FT).

Label: H{SO ＜ real vs． unreal (the reputation Chinatown enjoys vs Chinese students) ＞ LM ＜mediation script＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: Chinese students) ＞ NS ＜ comment(Irony) ＞ LA ＜Such is＞ }

Here, in the source language, Lao She employs irony ―中国城有这样的好名誉‖ to express humor in order to explain the bad reputation of Chinatown and present the low status of China in the world. In the target language, free translation is taken by the translator and irony is represented by saying ―Such is the reputation Chinatown

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enjoys‖. It can be seen that the rhetorical device and irony in the source language are the same with those in the target language, which successfully conveys the humor.

3.3.9. Verbal humor conveyed by allusion and its translation

Eg.17 [SL]：哥哥的钱真来了，于是亲戚朋友全在马威降世的第三十天上，吃了个―泰

山不下土‖（老舍, 1924: 38）。

(TL): Sure enough the money arrived, and as a result, on Ma Wei‘s 30th day, all of Ma Zeren‘s relatives and friends had a copious feast fit for the gods (FT).

Label: H{SO ＜ reasonable vs． unreasonable (had a copious feast fit for the gods.) ＞ LM ＜mediation script＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: relatives and friends) ＞ NS ＜ statement(Allusion) ＞ LA ＜all of＞ }

In this example, Lao She employs allusion ―泰山不下土‖ to express humor to show that the relatives and friends enjoyed themselves as well as present a lively party. In the target language, the translation strategies is free translation, during which the translator translates ―泰山不下土‖ to ―had a copious feast fit for the gods‖. As we know, ―泰山不下土‖ belongs to the Chinese culture. As a result, in the source language, the rhetorical device (allusion) in the source language is missing, so the humor in original text is lost. As a result, the English readers can not have the same imagination as the original readers.

3.3.10. Verbal humor conveyed by repetition and its translation

Eg.18 [SL]：马则仁先生是一点不含糊的―老‖民族里的一个―老‖分子（老舍, 1924: 98）。

(TL): Ma Zeren was a dyed-in-the-wool ―old‖ element of an ―old‖ civilization(LT).

Label: H{SO ＜ real vs． unreal (―old‖ civilization vs ―old‖ element) ＞ LM ＜concatenation＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: Ma Zeren) ＞ NS ＜ statement(Repetition) ＞ LA ＜dyed-in-the-wool＞ }

Here, Lao She employs repetition ―‘老’老民族里的一个‘老’分子‖ to express humor. We can see there are two ―老‖ in this sentence. This repetition is intended to

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tell readers that Mr Ma is conservative to old traditional custom and Mr Ma‘s stubborn. In the target language, the respective translation is ― ―old‖ element of ―old‖ civilization‖. Obviously, Julie Jimmerson uses literal translation so the rhetorical device in the source language remains the same in the target language, thus being easily understood by the target readers.

To sum up, from the analysis of narrative strategy, we can make a conclusion as follows:

Firstly, from the perspective of simile, by studying its translation, we find that literal translation accounts for 66.67%, free translation for 15.94%, substitution for 2.90%, omission for 4.35% and mistranslation for 10.15%. In the source language, simile is represented by using ―像‖ while in the target language, simile is represented by using ―like‖. And sometimes, simile is transformed into metaphor. Generally speaking, the translation well conveys the humor in the source language.

Secondly, from the perspective of metaphor, by studying its translation, we find that literal translation accounts for 33.36%, free translation for 54.55%, substitution for 9.09%. In the source language, humor is conveyed by similarity without analogy words. Likewise, in the target language, metaphor is represented the same way. And sometimes, metaphor is transformed into simile. Generally speaking, free translation can well convey the humor in the source language.

Thirdly, from the perspective of hyperbole, we find that literal translation accounts for 75%, free translation for 12.5%, mistranslation for 12.5%. In the source language, hyperbole is represented by using some exaggerated words. And in the target language, hyperbole is also represented by using hyperbolic words. Generally speaking, literal translation can well convey the humor in the source language.

Fourthly, from the perspective of ridicule, sarcasm, irony and antithesis, we find that literal translation for ridicule accounts for 44.44%, free translation for 33.33% and mistranslation for 33.34%. For sarcasm, literal translation accounts for 77.78% and mistranslation for 22.22%. For irony, we find that literal translation accounts for 66.68% and free translation for 33.33%. For antithesis, literal translation accounts for 57.14%, free translation for 28.57% and mistranslation accounts for 14.29%.

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Generally speaking, literal translation can well convey the humor in the source language.

Fifthly, from the perspective of rhetorical question, it can be found that literal translation accounts for 37.5%, free translation for 37.5% and mistranslation for 25%. In the source language, rhetorical question is represented by using interrogation mark, but sometimes in the target language, the rhetorical device (rhetorical question) in source language is missing. Generally speaking, literal translation can well convey the humor in the source language.

At last, from the perspective of allusion and repetition, we find that for allution, literal translation accounts for 37.5% and free translation for 37.5%. In terms of repetition, literal translation accounts for 43.52%, free translation for 34.16% and mistranslation for 22.32%. In the target language, the rhetorical device (allusion) in the source language is missing. For repetition, in source language, the rhetorical device is the same with that in the target language. In other words, the rhetorical device (repetition) in the source language is kept.

3.4. Verbal humor conveyed by alien sources and its translation

Alien sources refer to unique concept in a specific language community which reflect its own history, culture, society and way of thinking (戈玲玲，2010：211).

The origin of the concept can be broadly divided into two categories: artifacts and cognitive patterns. Existing artifacts can be observed through the senses. Artifacts classes include: history, geography, ethnicity, national institution, clothing, cooking, architecture, music, art, martial arts, folklore, religion, daily life style, etc. and cognitive patterns come from cultural traditions (戈玲玲，2010：212).

Eg.19 [SL]: 蜜麻花（老舍,1924: 40） (TL): Sesame seed candy (FT).

Label: H{SO ＜ real vs． unreal (蜜麻花vs Sesame seed candy) ＞ LM ＜mediation script＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: Sesame seed candy) ＞ NS ＜ statement ＞ LA ＜Sesame seed candy＞ }

In this example, Lao She employs alien sources ―蜜麻花‖ to express humor in

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order to imply that Mr Ma‘s mustache was intertwined by tears and present Mr Ma‘s great sorrow. In the target language, the relevant translation of alien source is ―Sesame seed candy‖. Obviously, ―蜜麻花‖ is one of the Chinese alien sources that belongs to Beijing local culture. Therefore, this Chinese alien source is missing in its translation. In other words, the imagery in the English text is different from that in the source language. As a consequence, the free translation can not well convey the real meaning of the source language, thus the readers can not successfully enjoy the humor of the original text.

Eg.20 [SL]：摸老瞎（老舍, 1924: 306）

(TL): The children's game of blind man's bluff (FT).

Label: H{SO ＜ real vs． unreal (摸老瞎vs The children's game of blind man's bluff) ＞ LM ＜mediation script＞ SI ＜ context ＞ TA ＜ specific object(third-party: The children's game of blind man's bluff) ＞ NS ＜ statement ＞ LA ＜The children's game of blind man's bluff＞ }

Here, Lao She employs alien sources ―摸老瞎‖ to express humor in order to mock the Chinese way of doing things, that is to present Chinese people‘s laggard thoughts. In the target language, this alien source is represented by saying ―The children's game of blind man's bluff‖ which is different from ―摸老瞎‖ in Chinese. In other words, the alien source ―摸老瞎‖ in the source language is missing. That is to say, free translation can‘t successfully convey the humor in the source language.

All in all, there are thirteen Chinese alien sources in this database, accounting for 10.4% and their translating strategies are substitution, free translation, literal translation and omission. The data show that substitution accounts for 46.15% , free translation for 38.47%, literal translation for 7.69% and omission for 7.69%. Mostly, the alien sources in Chinese are different from those in the target language. In other words, the alien sources are missing in their translation. Generally speaking, free translation well conveys the humor in the source language.

3.5. Summary

In the database, there are 10 rhetorical devices in total and thirteen Chinese

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alien sources, which are employed to convey the verbal humor of Er Ma. The former are simile, metaphor, hyperbole, ridicule, rhetorical question, antithesis, sarcasm, irony, allusion, and repetition.

From the perspective of rhetorical devices, both simile in the source language and that in the target language are represented by using analogy words, that is ―像‖ in Chinese and ―like‖ in English. But sometimes simile is transformed into metaphor. Generally speaking, the translation well conveys the humor in the source language. Secondly, metaphor is mostly represented by using no analogy words both in the source language and the target language but sometimes metaphor is transformed into simile. Mostly, free translation can well convey the humor in the source language. Thirdly, hyperbole is represented by using some exaggerated words both in Chinese and in English. Generally speaking, literal translation well conveys the humor in source language. Fourthly, in terms of ridicule, sarcasm, irony and antithesis, literal translation also well conveys the humor in the source language. Fifthly, in the source language, rhetorical question is represented by using interrogation mark, but sometimes the rhetorical device (rhetorical question) in the source language is missing in its translation but the literal translation still well conveys the humor in the source language. Last but not least, the rhetorical device (allusion) in the source language is missing in the target language and for repetition, it is employed both in the source language and the target language.

From the perspective of alien sources, alien sources in Chinese are different from those in the target language. In other words, the alien sources in the source language are missing in their translation so free translation should be employed to successfully convey the humor in the source language.

4.Conclusion

This chapter gives a summary of the present study and major findings in the first section and presents limitations of the research and suggestions for future research in the second section.

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This research presents a study of verbal humor in Mr. Ma and Son and its

translation within the framework of the GTVH. With a great quantity studies on Mr Ma and Son and its translation, it can be seen that the GTVH has provided us with a new perspective to study the features of Chinese humorous texts. The author believes that this study will be of paramount importance to readers‘ reasonable understanding.

By investigating Mr. Ma and Son from quantitative and qualitative analyses, the author can roughly summarize the findings of the research as follows:

The results show that among knowledge resources, the core content of the GTVH, narrative strategy and language are crucial. Since rhetorical devices belong to narrative strategy, the author finds that ten rhetorical devices in the database, that is, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, ridicule, rhetorical question, antithesis, sarcasm, irony, allusion and repetition. Among the rhetorical devices, the author finds that in the source language simile accounts for 55.2%, metaphor for 8.8%, ridicule for 7.2%, sarcasm for 7.2%, hyperbole for 6.4%, rhetorical question for 6.4%, antithesis for 5.6%, irony for 1.6%, allusion for 0.8%, and repetition for 0.8%. What‘s more, by studying their translation, the author finds that literal translation is most frequently employed by the translator, accounting for 42.12%. Besides, free translation accounts for 36.26%, substitution for 19.35%, omission for 1.82% and mistranslation for 0.45%.

The author also finds alien sources are employed by Lao She, accounting for 10.4% and their translation strategies are substitution, free translation, literal translation and omission. The data show that substitution is most frequently used taking up 46.15%. Besides, free translation accounts for 38.47%, literal translation for 7.69% and omission for 7.69%.

From the discussion and analysis in the research, it is clearly seen that the GTVH

is a wonderful theory for us to study the features of Chinese humorous texts. However, this current research is just a tentative analysis, some aspects of which are still needed to be improved:

Firstly, data in this study are selected exclusively from Mr. Ma and Son, which is quite narrow when compared with various novels in China. At the same time, the

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literatures on the GTVH in China are not so many as abroad, as a result, the data we can use for reference are limited.

Secondly, the data in the database are selected only by myself so all of the opinions are my own points. What‘s more, as there are a lot of humorous sentences in the text of Mr. Ma and Son , I just choose some typical ones.

In a word, the analysis and the method employed in the research can provide some suggestions to English learners and scholars who have studied the GTVH. Despite unavoidable limitations in this research, it is hoped to further study them, and to expand the application of the GTVH to the understanding of Chinese verbal humor in other themes and genres.

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Bibliography

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[15] 戈玲玲，何元建. 基于言语幽默概论的汉语幽默文本特征研究[A]. 外国语，2012 [16] 戈玲玲，何元建. 从言语幽默概论视角探讨汉语言语幽默的翻译[J]. 中国翻译，2012 [17] 何元建. 论本源概念的翻译模式[J]. 外语教学与研究，2010

[18] 黄圆圆. 《老友记》幽默对白的语用分析[D]. 上海外国语大学硕士学位论文，2010 [19] 黄宇. 从《二马》看英国文化对老舍的影响[A]. 湖南社会科学，2003 [20] 刘静. 从规范化角度看《二马》中隐喻的翻译[A]. 海外英语

[21] 刘学明，陈义东. 论《二马》中的―陌生化‖技巧[A]. 西华大学学报，2007 [22] 潘源源. 北京人在伦敦---《二马》形象分析[D]. 山东大学硕士学位论文，2012 [23] 钱振纲. 杂处中的比较与探索---论老舍在小说《二马》中的文化思考[A]. 文史哲，1999（5）

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Acknowledgments

I would be greatly indebted to all those who helped me during the writing of this thesis.

First and foremost, my deepest gratitude goes to Professor Ge Lingling, my supervisor, for her constant encouragement and guidance. She guides the direction of my thesis, her research on the verbal humor and alien sources gave me great guidance and help. It is her profound and broad knowledge, constant strictness and outstanding understandings that assist me to finish this research .She has walked me through all the stages of the writing of this thesis. Without her consistent and illuminating instruction, this thesis could not have reached its present form.

Second, especially, I am most grateful to my supervisor, my well-beloved teacher, Zhang Li. She gives me the selfless guidance and help and she is full of responsibility. Every time I have questions about the thesis, she always answers me in patience. She has instructed and helped me a lot on this thesis. Thanks to her continuous support and valuable suggestions, this research can be completed smoothly.

Thirdly,I am also indebted to the staff of the Department library, whose generous help is of great importance to my sample collecting.

Fourth, my sincere thanks also go to the authors of the books and essays to which I have referred in writing the thesis.

And finally, I would like to express my thanks to my beloved family for their loving considerations and great confidence in me all through these years. I also owe my sincere gratitude to my close friends and fellow classmates who have kept me going with their everlasting love and sustained encouragement during the whole process of my study and thesis writing.

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