An Analysis of the English Translation of My Cultural Mountains and Rivers from the Perspective of Appraisal Theory

Abstract

This article draws on the Appraisal theory to investigate the appraisal resources in the English translation of the essay My Cultural Mountains and Riversauthored by Yu Qiuyu. It focuses on the translator's insertion, conversion and deletion of certain Appraisal resources from the original work. The study finds that evaluative prosody of the text plays a significant role in influencing the translator's choices in relation to evaluative expressions. The analysis of the translation also reveals that the translator tends to make explicit in his work the author's invoked or implicit attitudes. However, relative inadequacy is observed in the translator's handling of the metaphorical expressions imbued with the author's emotions. Overall, this paper uncovers the translator's active engagement in the interpretation of the author's axiology and personal stance, while reflecting his own construal of values in the translated version. It provides researchers with an analytical model or perspective to better understand and appreciate the evaluative expressions in the translation process.