Translation of Puns Based on Dirk Delabastita’s Theory on Pun Translation: A Case Study of The Trials of Apollo 2: The Dark Prophecy

Abstract

Pun is a prominent linguistic structure in English literature and its translation has always been a major problem for translators. This thesis agrees with Dirk Delabastita’s view that puns, with certain techniques, can be translated into another language with their functions intact. With Dirk Delabastita’s theory on the translation of puns, this thesis analyzes The Trials of Apollo 2: The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan and its Simplified Chinese version Yuyan Anying translated by Weiming Gao, focusing on the accuracy and the use of the language of the pun translations. The results show that the Simplified Chinese version has some excellent translations and some flaws. It obtains a better use of editorial techniques to help explain the translation than the other methods mentioned in Dirk Delabastita’s theory. Furthermore, since the main readers of the original book and the translated version are both children and teenagers, the request for humorous language will rise and the translated version needs improving to meet this request. Some of the author’s suggestions for improvements are given accordingly.