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Translation Styles in Two Chinese Versions of A Bend in the River: A Corpus-Based Study through Bourdieu's Practice Theory

Authors

  • Xin Zhang Email ORCID

    Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi 43600, Malaysia
  • Rachel Suet Kay Chan ORCID

    Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi 43600, Malaysia
  • Raan-Hann Tan ORCID

    Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi 43600, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i11.11825
Received: 27 August 2025 | Revised: 15 September 2025 | Accepted: 22 September 2025 | Published Online: 24 October 2025

Abstract

This study adopts a corpus-based translation studies (CTS) approach to compare Fang Bolin's and Li Yongping's Chinese translations of A Bend in the River. A bilingual one-to-two parallel corpus was constructed with sentence-level alignment; quantitative indices include STTR, lexical density, four-character idiom frequency, syntactic restructuring profiles, and strategies for culture-loaded words. Using Bourdieu's practice theory, it examines linguistic and non-linguistic features through quantitative methods, focusing on differences in lexical richness, syntactic patterns, and translation strategies. The findings show that Li Yongping’s translation demonstrates higher lexical richness (STTR = 52.76%), greater frequency of four-character idioms (0.94%), and more active syntactic restructuring. In contrast, Fang Bolin's translation relies more on the syntactic strategy of direct correspondence (80.0%) and shows a higher proportion of high-frequency words (22.11%). The stylistic differences can be attributed to the translators' different field positions, cultural capital accumulation, and translation habitus formation. As a mature writer-translator, Li Yongping occupied a central position in the translation field, possessed rich cultural capital and a strong creative habitus, and tended toward a domestication translation strategy. Fang Bolin, by contrast, as a novice translator, occupied a peripheral position in the translation field, relied on academic capital and a conservative habitus, and tended toward a foreignization translation strategy. Interpreted through the field–capital–habitus lens, these contrasts move the analysis from description to explanation and point to implications for translator training.

Keywords:

A Bend in the River, Translation Style, Corpus-Based Translation Studies, Bourdieu, Practice Theory

References

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2025 Vol.7 No.11

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Copyright © 2025 Xin Zhang, Rachel Suet Kay Chan, Raan-Hann Tan

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