A Study of Defamiliarization Translation in English Novels

Creation of defamiliarization techniques

Harold is so handsome, so handsome. ?

Harold is so handsome, so handsome.

Helen is so beautiful and happy, it is so beautiful and happy.

Here, the author does not use defamiliarization, but Xu Zhimo's use of defamiliarization brings good effect and aesthetic feeling in translation. Because the word "beautiful" is generally only used for girls, it reminds readers of what kind of man it is. Han's translation gives readers less aesthetic feeling than Xu.

Preservation of defamiliarization techniques

Spring-warmth, eagerness and restlessness ....

Han Shaogong: Spring is so warm and hopeful, but it is so restless.

Xu Zhimo: Spring is warm, attentive and urgent.

Here, the original works are defamiliarized, and Han retains the defamiliarization effect of Restlessness and Desire.

Lack of defamiliarization skills

He was tired. Although the sunset was still shining, he was strangely cold and numb.

The author deliberately puts the clause guided by which in the middle of the sentence, which makes the sentence pattern look strange, but there is no grammatical error. At the same time, it produces novelty and strong contrast, which makes readers shine at the moment, and the sun contrasts with the cold. And sentences with normal word order are very prosaic.

Han Shaogong: He is tired. Although the sunset is still there, he feels numb and cold all over.

Xu Zhimo: He is tired. At that time, although the photos at night were very thick, he felt cold all over.

Both translators retain the sentence structure, but there is no influence brought by translation defamiliarization. Too many conjunctions and turning words are used in translation, which makes the translation dull.