1.7 Research design and methodology

A descriptive study of the various translation procedures and the social and academic backgrounds of the two translators will be conducted. The reception of both TTs in the English-speaking world will also be discussed by examining reviews and related research.

A qualitative study will also be conducted to compare and analyze the approaches to translation utilized by the two translators. This analysis will be based on relevant theoretical approaches (as introduced in Chapter 4).

In an analysis of an extensive text such as Sanguo Yanyi, segments have to be selected to focus research on. The number of segments to be selected and the criteria for selection have to be determined before research commences. The ST comprises 120 chapters with ten to twenty pages in each chapter. Attempting a comprehensive study of all the chapters and their translations in detail is not feasible, especially on a microstructural level. Selecting a number of chapters as representative of the entire ST seems to be the only solution. However, the number of chapters to choose and which chapters to choose remain problematic.

Looking at chapters included in abridged translations of Sanguo Yanyi might provide a viable solution to the problem of selection. The interest of translators of abridged versions of the novel seems to vary, however. Some translators focus on a certain character and translate the corresponding chapter or chapters telling the story of that character. For example, Stanislas Julien translated Chapters 3-9 into French, which tell the story about Dong Zhuo's rise and fall. Other translators are interested in important events such as the Battle of the Red Cliff, and choose to translate the relevant chapters. For instance, Z.Q. Parker (in 1925), Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang (in 1962) and Cheung Yik-man (in 1972) all chose to translate Chapters 43-50. It is thus evident that different segments are selected for different purposes. For those translators who only translate excerpts of the ST, their choice seems focused mainly on the plot (cf. Table 1.1).

From the table it is clear that the chapters that are translated most are mainly in the first half (first 60 chapters) of the novel. This seems to suggest that the most interesting stories are told in the first half of the book. The death of Guan Yu, one of the major characters, occurs in Chapter 77, followed by the deaths of Cao Cao (Chapter 78), Zhang Fei (Chapter 81), and Liu Bei (Chapter 85). Zhuge Liang, one of the central characters, dies in Chapter 104, which indicates that the climax is over and the remaining chapters are considered less interesting. This is also reflected in the translators' choices of chapters to translate. In the abridged translations referred to in Table 1.1, no chapters from 105-120 were translated except for Chapter 108.

It is important to note that translators and researchers may also choose to focus on different segments, and for different purposes. In order to conduct valid research, for example, researchers cannot limit their focus to the attractiveness of the plot. They would need to ensure that selections are representative and that segments selected convey the most characteristics and functions of the ST. Furthermore, the length of the text has to be considered.In the case of Sanguo Yanyi,for example,which contains 120 chapters, it would be impossible to analyze the entire text, but one or two chapters would also not be considered representative of the entire text.

In addition to bearing in mind the length of the entire text, the lengths of individual chapters are also an important consideration. The length of each chapter of Sanguo Yanyi varies,ranging from six pages to seventeen and a half taking Roberts's translation as an example. The shortest is Chapter 24, which only contains six pages. The longest are Chapters 60 and 120, containing seventeen pages and seventeen and a half respectively.

For the purposes of this study, three chapters and their corresponding translations were selected as the focus of analysis. These three chapters are Chapter 1, Chapter 60 and Chapter 120. The length and extensiveness of these chapters were considered before they were selected for analysis. The three selected chapters add up to forty-six and a half pages, excluding the footnotes (Chapter 1 has twelve pages; Chapter 60 has seventeen pages; Chapter 120 has seventeen and a half pages). If pages with notes are counted, the overall length of the three selected chapters will be fifty-three pages (five and a half full pages containing only the endnotes to these three chapters).

In consideration of the plot of the novel, the first and the last chapters are important since they reflect how the story starts and how it ends, how the empire of Han was divided at its end into three kingdoms, and how the country was united again under the empire of Jin. In the first chapter, four major characters of the novel such as Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are introduced. The last chapter tells the story of how the new empire Jin defeats the Kingdom of Wu and captures its king. The first and last chapters are therefore selected because of their importance as a novel and their richness of cultural elements. Furthermore, there are many proper names and culture-specific elements in these two chapters.

Other factors such as those reflecting strategies of dealing with culture-related references and degrees of consistency were also taken into consideration in the selection of chapters as focus of the analysis. Chapter 60 was chosen for three reasons. Firstly, this chapter is right in the middle of the book and by studying it the degree of consistency can be reflected on. Secondly, this chapter contains plenty of dialogue, which is the key method used to portray characters in traditional Chinese novels. These dialogues or direct speeches provide material for analysis regarding the strategies adopted by the two translators. Finally, in terms of the plot, Chapter 60 includes some important events which are crucial to Liu Bei's successful invasion of the west province, which is later to become the base of the Kingdom of Shu.

Thus, three chapters, namely Chapters 1, 60 and 120 from the ST and their corresponding translations in the two TTs were selected as the focus of study. All examples and most data will be taken from this selection. The analysis of the translations will mainly be based on Descriptive Translations Study (DTS), which is to be further discussed in Chapter 4.