Study on the English Translation of Someone to Talk To from the Perspective of Toury’s Translation Norms

Abstract

Someone to Talk To is a local novel written by Liu Zhenyun, a writer from Henan Province. This novel won the Mao Dun Literature Prize in 2011. The English version of the novel was translated and published by the famous American sinologist Howard
Goldblatt and his wife. Based on Toury's translation norms theory, this paper analyzes the factors that influence the formation of the English version of the book and the translator’s choice and implementation of translation strategies from three aspects: preparatory norms, initial norms and operational norms, and finally draws a conclusion. This study attempts to help Chinese culture "go global" and let the world hear the voice of China better through the theory of translation norms.