STYLISTIC DEVICES DESCRIBING FAITH IN THE NOVEL ‘LIFE OF PI’ BY YANN MARTEL AND ITSVIETNAMESE EQUIVALENT TRANSLATED BY TRINH LU. MASTER THESIS IN SOCIAL SCIENCES ANDHUMANITIES

HỒ THỊ THU TRANGSTYLISTIC DEVICES DESCRIBING FAITH IN THE NOVEL ‘LIFE OF PI’ BY YANN MARTEL AND ITS VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENT TRANSLATED BY TRINH... MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAININGTHE UNI

HỒ THỊ THU TRANG

STYLISTIC DEVICES DESCRIBING FAITH IN THE NOVEL ‘LIFE OF PI’ BY YANN MARTEL AND ITS VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENT TRANSLATED BY TRINH

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG

HỒ THỊ THU TRANG

STYLISTIC DEVICES DESCRIBING FAITH IN THE NOVEL ‘LIFE OF PI’ BY YANN MARTEL AND ITS VIETNAMESE VERSION TRANSLATED BY TRINH LU

It goes without saying that stylistic devices are used as an importantmeans of literature to effectively capture readers’s attention The proper use

of those devices enables the author to keep us interested while we are reading

a story There are different kinds of stylistic devices and each kind of thembrings different effects to establish the mood and theme of the story Hence,this study attempts to investigate the stylistic devices describing faith in the

novel “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel and its Vietnamese version translated by

Trinh Lu The data for analysis are 120 samples (60 in Vietnamese and 60 inEnglish) collected from the novel in two versions, English and Vietnamese.The research is carried out based on the combination of a variety of methods,namely qualitative, quantitative, descriptive and comparative Data arecollected, described, analyzed and compared to find out the similarities anddifferences of these features between the two languages

Hopefully, the study could provide the readers a better insight intostylistic devices describing faith in the novel “Life of Pi” and its Vietnameseversion, as well as help teachers, learners and translators of Englishunderstand and use them more effectively

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ABSTRACT ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 RATIONALE 1

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 4

1.2.1 Aims 4

1.2.2 Objectives 4

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 4

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 4

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 5

1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY 5

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 6

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 8

2.2.1 Stylistic Devices 8

2.2.2 Role of literary devices 24

2.2.3 Translation 24

2.2.4 The Author Yann Martel 27

2.2.5 The Novel “Life of Pi” 28

2.2.6 Translator Trinh Lu 31

2.2.7 Literary values of the novel “Life of Pi” 31

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 34

3.1 RESEACH DESIGN 34

3.2 RESEARCH METHODS 34

3.3 DATA COLLECTION 35

3.4 DATA ANALYSIS 35

3.5 RESEARCH PROCEDURES 36

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 37

4.1 LEXICAL STYLISTIC DEVICES 37

4.1.1 Metaphor 37

4.1.2 Hyperbole 47

4.2 SYNTACTICAL STYLISTIC DEVICES 50

4.2.1 Rhetorical Question 50

4.2.2 Repetition 54

4.3 LEXICO-SYNTACTICAL STYLISTIC DEVICES 60

4.3.1 Climax 60

4.3.2 Paradox 70

4.3.3 Simile 73

4.5 REMARKS OF STYLISTIC DEVICES DESCRIBING FAITH IN “LIFE OF PI” IN ENGLISH AND ITS VIETNAMESE EQUIVALENT .84

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION - IMPLICATIONS - LIMITATIONS - RECOMMENDATIONS 86

5.1 CONCLUSION 86

5.2 IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY 87

5.2.1 Implications for students 87

5.2.2 Implications for teachers 89

5.2.3 Implications for translators 90

5.3 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 91

5.4 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES 92 REFERENCES

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

SD Stylistic deviceSDs Stylistic devices

LIST OF TABLES

4.1 Frequency of Occurrence of Stylistic Devices used in

describing faith in the novel “Life of Pi” and its

Vietnamese equivalent

83

4.2 Translation Procedures of Stylistic Devices used in

describing faith in the novel “Life of Pi”

84

CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION

1.1 RATIONALE

Faith is the very sum and substance of life Without faith, humanbeings cannot achieve anything If we observe all the greatest Endeavour’scarried out in this world, we will find that behind them faith was the sole-driving force A person can set a goal for himself, only if he has faith thatultimately he will achieve the goal Thus, faith forms the foundation of everynew achievement, every new invention, every new discovery and every newvictory

Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi” is the novel that has won The Man BookerPrize awarded for the best original full-length novel, and written in English

language Since it first published in 2002, “Life of Pi” becomes one of the

particular novels that made that year It inspires people with motivation,strength and strong will to overcome enormous obstacles and brings life withfull of colors and atmosphere Yann Martel made the impossible possible withfaith - the very beautiful thing in this world Throughout the story, a humanbeing named Piscine Molitor Patel spent 227 days on a lifeboat in the middle

of the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal Tiger To live over this despairedsituation, he must have had an amount of persistence, hope, and faith morevast than the Pacific Ocean itself Particularly, faith is the number one source

of survival and happiness during the tragedy

“Life of Pi” is a story within a story within a story The significant way

of storytelling and the natural depiction of belief has contributed to the highsuccess of the novel Thanks to the stylistic devices (SDs) describing faith inthe novel, the author can draw vivid pictures with good art without describing

what exactly happen Martel actually displays the clever voice andtremendous storytelling skills of an emerging master in using them to activateand fire imagination in readers, with an assurance that “I have a story that willmake you believe in God” The way SDs used throughout the story not onlyhelps to develop the level of faith – from God to ourselves – but also is amarvelous feat of imagination and inquiry They truly have a great power ofexpressive meaning in the novel Furthermore, the remarks of SDs used indescribing faith in the novel and its Vietnamese translational equivalent arewhat made me deeply curious and excited Taking the below paragraph as anexample.

“I am a Hindu because of sculptured cones of red kumkum powder and baskets of yellow turmeric nuggets, because of garlands of flowers and

pieces of broken coconut, because of the clanging of bells to announce one’s

arrival to God, because of the whine of the reedy nadaswaram and the beating

of drums, because of the patter of bare feet against stone floors down darn corridors pierced by shafts of sunlight, because of fragrance of incense, because of flames of arati lamps circling in the darkness, because of bhajans being sweetly sung, because of elephants standing around to bless, because

of colourful murals telling colourful stories, because of foreheads carrying,

variously signified, the same word – faith.” [1, p.59-60]

“Tôi là một tín đồ Hindu bởi những thỏi nhang hình côn nặn bằng bột kum kum màu đỏ và những giỏ trầm vàng, bởi những vòng hoa kết và những mẫu cùi dừa, bởi tiếng chuông ngân dài dọn bước chân người đến với Thượng đế, bởi những âm thanh khắc khoải của cây sáo sậy nadaswaram và tiếng trống đổ dồn, bởi tiếng chân trần bước trên sàn đá những hành lang tối

có những tia sáng mặt trời xuyên nghiêng huyền ảo, bởi hương thơm của nhang, bởi lưỡi lửa của các cây đèn arati chập chờn trong bóng tối, bởi những

khúc ca bhajan cất lên ngọt ngào làm vậy, bởi bầy voi đứng chầu quanh đền

đợi bởi bầy voi đứng chầu quanh đền đợi ban phước lành, bởi những bức tranh tường kể bao câu chuyện lung linh, bởi những vầng trán mang trên

chúng những ký hiệu khác nhau của chỉ một từ - niềm tin.” [2, p.85]

Yann is describing how the familiarity of what Pi has grown up with as

“religion” is comforting to him and how it became the spark within him thatlit the fire of his love for God by using SDs like Metaphor and Polysyndeton

He uses Polysyndeton “because of” in writing as thinking that there arevarious simple and familiar things around us representing for God God is like

a father creating the beauty of life, and loving life is just like loving God.Besides, Yann also uses metaphor “colourful murals telling colourful stories”

to imply that murals themselves cannot tell stories like human beings,however, through murals-wall paintings we can understand or imagine whathappened or even what will happen in our daily life In fact, Trinh Lu tries tomaintain the meaning and linguistic style of Martel in the text except puttingone more Metaphor in describing how the bell resound like a person toannounce the appearance of God

All in all, faith is a very large and interesting topic to discuss,especially with the very unique linguistic style of Yann Martel using SDs inthe novel, because it can reveal the true intention why the main characterchooses faith rather than anything for life Hence, this is the reason for me to

do this study which is intended to investigate and compare the features of

some “Stylistic Devices Describing Faith in the Novel “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel and its Vietnamese Equivalent Translated by Trinh Lu” In

addition, this study might help us deal with this part of English language morecarefully to contribute a small part to learning and teaching literature,translation as well as writing

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

1.2.2 Objectives

The study is intended to:

- Identify and analyze SDs describing faith in the English novel “Life

of Pi” and its Vietnamese translational equivalent

- Highlight the remarks of SDs used in the novel and its translationalequivalent

- Suggest some implications of using SDs on teaching, learning andtranslation of literature as well as writing texts related to faith

2 How are these SDs translated into Vietnamese?

3 What are the implications of the findings for understanding and usingSDs to describe faith in translation as well as writing?

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

In this thesis, I focus on examining the SDs describing faith in thenovel “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel and its Vietnamese translational

equivalent, including analyzing lexical SDs, syntactical SDs and syntactical SDs From the comparison of SDs used in the novel and itsequivalent, I present some pragmatic features of using SDs in describing faith

lexico one of the major factors that earn the novel’s popularity and recognition

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study has values in both theoretical and practical aspects.Theoretically, the study helps to have good insight into the SDs describingfaith and find out the remarks of SDs in the English novel “Life of Pi” byYann Martel and its Vietnamese equivalent translated by Trinh Lu.Practically, it helps to find out the effectiveness of those linguistic featureswhen applying to the act of describing faith in translation and writing

1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

The study consists of five chapters as follows:

Chapter 1, Introduction

Chapter 2, Literature Review and Theoretical Background

Chapter 3, Research Design and Methodology

Chapter 4, Findings and Discussions

Chapter 5, Conclusion – Implications – Limitation - Recommendation

CHAPTER 2LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL

BACKGROUND

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW

So far, many famous linguists and grammarians in the world such asGalperin [1977], Bazerman [1988], Bradford & Richard [1997], Kramsch[2003], Verdonk [2003], Simpson [2004] have shown their particular interest

in the topic of SDs and investigated different aspects of them to find out theirtheoretical and practical significance For instance, in Galperin’s famous booknamed “Stylistics”, he wrote: “Stylistics is a domain where meaning assumesparamount importance This is so because the term ‘meaning’ is applied notonly to words, word - combination, sentences but also to the manner ofexpression into which the writer is cast” He also described “the word is, ofall language units, the most sensitive to change, its meaning graduallydevelops and as a result of this development, new meanings appear alongsidethe primary one” and of course “when a word begins to manifest an interplaybetween the primary and one of the derivative meanings we are againconfronted with a stylistic device.” [3, p.148]

In Vietnamese, the topic of SDs is also a matter of concern to severallinguists such as Đinh Trọng Lạc & Nguyễn Thái Hòa [1995], [1993]; HữuĐạt [2001], Lê Lưu Oanh & Phạm Đăng Dư [2008] In their books, theauthors have provided clear definitions, functions of SD in Vietnamese andtheir own viewpoint on stylistic devices

Furthermore, SDs are also taught and researched in universitydepartments of language, literature and linguistics the world over Forinstance, there are some international research articles such as Abioye [2009]

examined style and the concept of the Rhetorical Question as well asidentified typology of it (about 8 different types) in newspapers and otherforms of discourse This idea is to highlight reasons why teachers and writersshould spice up and embellish the variety of styles available for use Huang[2011] reports a study applying stylistics in the analysis and assessment ofliterary translation, with specific reference to translations between Englishand Chinese. It focuses on how to maintain the original style in the translation

- in terms of techniques or linguistic features in the literary texts and theircorrespondent functions - and on how to assess the style of the individualtranslation and translator Dubovičienė & Skorupa [2014] described the useand purpose of linguistic devices in print advertising In Vietnam, SDs arechosen to be analyzed in many graduation papers of master class such as PhanThị Uyên Uyên [2006] highlighted the differences and similarities of usingSDs in advertising language in English and Vietnamese newspaper; HoàngKim Anh [2008] worked out the similarities and differencies of SDs inEnglish and Vietnamese proverbs; Lê Thị Lai [2011] found out some SDscommonly used to describe natural scenery in English and Vietnameseliterary works and Đỗ Thị Qúy [2014] investigated into the use of SDs whichare translated from the novel “Số Đỏ” by Nguyễn Trọng Phụng All of themgave us a general knowledge of this topic and marked the importance ofresearching rhetorical devices

Likewise, there are also a lot of comments and feedbacks on Yann

Martel and his literary work “Life of Pi” like Krist, Gary [2002]: “Life of Pi is

a multileveled exploration of the beautiful mysteries that light up our livesand have no rhyme nor reason of their own Yet without them, we would benothing more than wonder-deprived creatures.” [34] As stated by Frederic &Brussat [2014] that “These are small nits, though Reading Life of Pi, you find

yourself at the mercy of a great storyteller Yann Martel will dazzle you withhis prose and his mastery of arcane facts, and challenges you to believe hisstory You will be left with a better understanding of animals, including man,

and much to ponder and question Life of Pi is a delicious treat to savor.” [35]

However, there has not been any research on language used to describle Faith

up to now Therefore, I would like to have an investigation into a verymeaningful aspect of the novel - Faith and the extraordinary writing style ofYann Martel in using SDs to send the message of faith effectively to thereaders

Thanks to these selection and supplementary ideas of all the worksmentioned above, this study is carried out and expected that the findings willprovide a better insight to SDs describing faith in the novel “Life of Pi” byYann Martel and its Vietnamese equivalent translated by Trinh Lu

2.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.2.1 Stylistic Devices

a Definition of Stylistic Devices

SDs (also called rhetorical devices or figures of speech) are considered

as distinctive linguistic expressions which make writings more effective,persuasive and successful for various purposes Galperin [1977] defined SDthat “It is a conscious and intentional intensification of some typical structuraland/or semantic property of a language unit (neutral or expressive) prompted

to a generalized status and thus becoming a generative model.” “It deals withthe result of the act of communication It means that Rhetorical takes intoconsideration the output of the act of communication.” It follows then that “Astylistic device is an abstract pattern, a mould into which any content can bepoured As is known, the typical is not only that which is in frequent use, butthat also which reveals the essence of a phenomenon with the greatest and

most evident force.” [3, p.12] In addition, in the book “Giáo trình lý luận vănhọc” [2007] Lê Lưu Oanh and Phạm Đăng Dư said “Using SDs in literary textmeans using words to build or create an artist image, to express viewpoints oflife If we can use different lines and colours in painting; different tunes,rhythm, timbres, sounds, melodies in music; certainly we can also usepeculiar techniques in literature” [25, p.56]

Interestingly, there are so many linguists and researchers whodiscovered the mystery, the beauty and the force of the rhetorical devices intheir own way These theories are great and useful sources for readers tounderstand clearly, deeply and sufficiently the topic

b Functions of Stylistic Devices

According to Bazerman [1988]: “The basic function of rhetoric is theused of words by human agents to form attitudes or to include actions in otherhuman agents” and “It is rooted in the essential function of language itself, afunction which is wholly realistic and continually born anew.” [4, p.34]Hence, SDs are used in writing to make it more effective and persuasive byemphasizing an attitude or opinion, arousing readers’ interest, making remarkvivid and unforgettable, making a train of thought more obvious to theaudience, creating vivid mental images, entertaining readers as well ascriticizing

c Classification of Stylistic Devices

According to principles of their formation, SDs are grouped into lexical,syntactical, lexico-syntactical and phonetical types

- Lexical Stylistic Devices

Lexical SDs are further classified according to the nature of lexicalmeanings participating in their formation

SDs based on the Interaction between the Logical and Nominal Meanings of a word.

Antonomasia is employed when the proper name of a person, who is

famous for some reasons, is put for a person having the same feature For

example: Her husband is an Othello Besides, it is used as a common noun

instead of the proper name There must have fixed logical associationsbetween the name itself and the qualities of its bearer which may occur only

as a result of long and frequent usage The main function of this type ofantonomasia is to characterize the person simultaneously with naming him

such as Lady Teasle; Miss Sharp; Mr Credulous.

SDs based on the Interaction between Two Logical Meanings of a word.

Metaphor compares two different things in a figurative sense Unlike

in a simile (A is like B), like and as is not used in metaphor (A is B) It is a

relation between the dictionary and contextual logical meanings based on thesimilarity of certain properties or features of the two corresponding concepts

Đinh Trọng Lạc [2003] said “Metaphor is the substitution of name or the

transference of attribute of this thing to another, based on their associationwith mutual characteristics.” [24, p.57]

“A Glossary of Literary Terms”: “in personification, either an inanimateobject or an abstract concept is spoken of as though it were endowed with life

of with human attributes or feelings.” [5, p 134]

For example:

- Justice is blind

- Necessity is the mother of invention

Metonymy reflects the actually existing relations between two objects

and is thus based on their contiguity According to Galperin [1977],

“Metonymy is based on different types of relation between the dictionary andcontextual meanings, a relation based not on affinity, but on some kind ofassociation connecting the two concepts which these meanings represent.” [3,p.140] Metonymy is expressed by nouns or substantivized numerals

For example:

- She was a pale and fresh eighteen (Metonymy A pale and fresh eighteen is in place of the girl who is eighteen years old is pale and fresh.)

- He could feel the steel going right through him (Metonymy Steel is

used to replace for dagger or knife.)

Irony is the clash of two diametrically opposite meanings within the

same context, which is sustained in oral speech by intonation Irony can berealized also through the medium of the situation, which, in written speech,may extend as far as a paragraph, chapter or even the whole book Bitter,

socially or politically aimed irony is referred to as sarcasm

For example:

- Teacher said: “You are absolutely the best class I’ve ever had.”

(Actual meaning: the worst class)

- “Go ask his name: if he be married

My grave is like to be my wedding bed.”

Juliet commands her nurse to find out who Romeo was and says if hewere married, then her wedding bed would be her grave It is a verbal ironybecause the audience knows that she is going to die on her wedding bed.

SDs based on the Interaction between the Logical and Emotive Meanings of a word.

Hyperbole is a deliberate overstatement or exaggeration of some

quantity, quality, size, etc According to Galperin, “Hyperbole can be defined

as a deliberate overstatement or exaggeration of a feature essential to theobject or phenomenon.” [3, p.176] Its purpose is to emphasize something or

to produce a humorous effect It, however, does not aim at giving wronginformation or telling a lie It does not make us believe in what is describedbut helps us understand clearly about it

For example:

- “I love Ophelia: forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love make up my sum.” (Shakespeare, 1603)

- I am so hungry I could eat a horse.

Oxymoron is a combination of two words (mostly an adjective and a

noun or an adverb and an adjective) whereby the meanings of the two clash,being opposite in sense [3, p.158]

For example:

-“Ralph, if you're gonna be a phony, you might as well be a real phony.” (Richard Yates, 2002)

- Please, I didn't kill anyone I'm an extreme pacifist.

(Andrew J West and Emily Deschanel, 2009)

It is clear that the noun phrases in the examples above contain twodifferent contradictory meanings: “real-phony”, “extreme-pacifist”

SDs based on the Interaction between the Free and Phraseological Meanings of a word.

The main stylistic function of the indicated SD is to create humorouseffect Proceeding from the quality of the context and the structure of the SD

we shall differentiate:

Zeugma is a strong and effective device to maintain the purity of the

primary meaning when two meanings clash It is defined as the use of a word

in the same grammatical but different semantic relation to two adjacent words

in the context, the semantic relation on the one hand literary, and on the otherhand transferred [3, 145] In other words, the context allows to realize twomeanings of the same polysemantic word without the repetition of the worditself

For example:

- “And May’s mother always stood on her gentility, and Dot’s mother never stood on anything but her active little feet.” (Dickens)

In the sentence, the word “stood” is used twice The structural variant

of zeugma makes the reader realize that the two meanings of the word “stand”are simultaneously expressed, one literal and other transferred

Pun is an idea or expression which has two meanings implied at the

same time Quite often, it is used to pass a witty remark or bring about asarcastic effect

For instance:

- Is life worth living?

 It depends on the liver

In this riddle, liver can refer to someone who lives or a large organ inthe body that cleans the blood and produces bile

- Syntactical Stylistic Devices

Syntactical SDs deal with the syntactical arrangement of the utterancewhich creates the emphasis of the latter irrespective of the lexical meanings ofthe employed units It should be observed here that oral speech is normallymore emphatic than the written type of speech Depending upon the part of thesyntactical structure that is endowed with contextual meaning to create theemphasis of the whole structure we differentiate the following syntactical SDs:

Inversion aims at attaching logical stress or additional emotional

coloring to the surface meaning of the utterance Therefore a specific

intonation pattern is the inevitable satellite of inversion Inversion as a

stylistic device is always sense - motivated It is most frequently met in bothEnglish prose and English poetry It can highlight description, change writingstyle and avoid monotonous repetition in using language Inversion must beregarded as an expressive means of language having typical structural models.Take into consideration these examples following:

- “Once upon a midnight dreary…” (E A Poe, 1845)

- “A good generous prayer it was” (Mark Twain, 1876)

- “Down dropped the breeze…” (Coleridge, 1798)

Rhetorical question, according to Abram [1957], is a sentence in the

grammatical form of a question which is not asked in order to requestinformation or to invite a reply, but to achieve an expressive force differentfrom, and usually more effective than, a direct assertion In everydaydiscourse, for example, if we utter the rhetorical question “Isn’t it a shame?”

it functions as a forceful alternative to the assertion “It’s a shame.” The figure

is often used in persuasive discourse [5, p.76] So the rhetorical questions may

be defined as utterances in the form of questions which pronoun judgments

and also expresses various kinds if modal shapes of meaning as doubt,challenge, scorn, etc.

- Don’t we all love peace and hate war?

- Shouldn’t we try to be friendlier towards each other?

Ellipsis: The part of a sentence or an event that is left out by

substituting it with ellipses is often used to either save time or use it as astylistic element by allowing the reader to fill in the gaps by using theirimagination Ellipsis can be dated back to Earnest Hemingway who alsopresented the Iceberg theory, which is also called the theory of omission [36]Nowadays, it is also very commonly used in filmmaking The parts andscenes that are of no significance to the film are usually omitted by editing

Among the famous examples of ellipsis in literature, the best would be

Virginia Woolf’s novel, “To the Lighthouse” The book involves two parts,

one before the World War I was fought and won and the later one accountsfor the events occurring afterwards All the events that occurred in betweenhave not been mentioned in the book Rather it has left to the readers todeduce the events from the notable changes that have occurred in thecharacters’ lives

Aposiopesis is derived from a Greek word that means “becoming

silent” It is a rhetorical device that can be defined as a figure of speech in

which the speaker or writer breaks off abruptly and leaves the statementincomplete, as if the speaker is not willing to state what is present in his minddue to being overcome by passion, excitement or fear In a piece of literature,

it means to leave a sentence unfinished so that the reader could determine hisown meanings The purpose of using aposiopesis is to create dramatic orcomic effects The writers or speakers use it whenever they want to expressideas which are too overwhelming to finish Several playwrights use this

technique to make the dialogues seem sincere and realistic But the mosteffective use of aposiopesis is seen when the readers successfully figure outthe missing thoughts that the writer has left unfinished [36]

For example:

- King Lear: “I will have revenges on you both

That all the world shall – I will do such things –

What they are yet, I know not; but they shall be

The terrors of the earth!” (William Shakespeare, 1983)

Shakespeare has used this technique wonderfully to show moods of hischaracters Here, it is employed when King Lear gets furious against hiswicked daughters He cannot declare punishment but he breaks down andburst into tears

- “All quiet on Howth now The distant hills seem Where we The

rhododendrons I am a fool perhaps, He gets the plums, and I the plumstones Where I come in.” (James Joyce, 1922)

In the following passage, Joyce deliberately paused twice in order tocreate dramatic effect The idea is left unfinished This break also gives animpression of reluctance to continue The unfinished thoughts are shown inbold

Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a

few times to make an idea clearer There are several types of repetitionscommonly used in both prose and poetry As a rhetorical device, it could be aword, a phrase or a full sentence or a poetical line repeated to emphasize itssignificance in the entire text Repetition is not distinguished solely as a figure

of speech but more as a rhetorical device The beauty of using figurativelanguage is that the pattern it arranges the words into is nothing like our

ordinary speech It is not only stylistically appealing but it also helps conveythe message in much more engaging and notable way [36]

Repetition is classified according to compositional patterns: anaphora,epiphora, chain repetition, or anadiplosis

For example:

- I’m nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody too?

Then there’s a pair of us-don’t tell!

They’d banish us you know (Emily Dickinson, 2002)

- I looked upon the rotting sea,

And drew my eyes away;

I looked upon the rotting deck,

And there the dead men lay.(Coleridge, 1798)

Parallelism is defined in the book “A dictionary of stylistics” by Wales

that “Parallelism is a device common in rhetoric which depends on theprinciple of equivalence in Jacob’s terms, or on the repetition of the samestructural pattern, commonly between phrases or clauses.” He also noted that

“there is usually obvious connection in meaning between the repeated unitswhich reinforces the equivalence, but they need more synonymous.” [6,p.335-336] In short, it is the use of components in a sentence that aregrammatically the same; or similar in their construction, sound, meaning

or meter in order to allows speakers and writers to maintain a consistencywithin their work and create a balanced flow of ideas

For example:

- Like father, like son

- The escaped prisoner was wanted dead or alive

- Easy come, easy go

Polysyndeton is defined in “Stylistics” by Galperin, “is the stylistic

devices of connecting sentences, or phrases, or syntagms, or words by usingconnectives (mostly conjunctions and prepositions) before each componentpart.” [3, p.226] The term polysyndeton comes from a Greek word meaning

“bound together” It makes use of coordinating conjunctions like “and”, “or”,

“but” and “nor” (mostly and and or) which are used to join successive words,

phrases or clauses in such a way that these conjunctions are even used wherethey might have been omitted It not only helps bring continuity in a sentence,but it acts also as a stylistic device, brings rhythm to the text with therepetition of conjunctions in quick succession It is also employed as a tool tolay emphasis to the ideas the conjunctions connect

For example:

- “We have ships and men and money and stores,”

The coordinating conjunction “and” is used in quick succession to joinwords occurring together In a normal situation, the coordinating conjunction

“and” is used to join the last two words of the list and the rest of the words inthe list are separated or joined by a comma

Asyndeton is a stylistic device used in literature and poetry to

intentionally eliminate conjunctions between the phrases and in the sentence,yet maintain the grammatical accuracy This literary tool helps in reducing theindirect meaning of the phrase and presents it in a concise form It is opposite

to polysyndeton as in an asyndeton, the words in a list are separated bycommas and no conjunctions are used to join the words in a list Asyndetonmay be classified into two types:

 One type of asyndeton is used between words, phrases and a

sentence

For example:

“Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, Shrunk to this littlemeasure?” (William Shakespeare, 1953)

 Second type is used between sentences or clauses

For example: “Without looking, without making a sound, without talking.”

(Oedipus at Colonus by Sophecles)

- Lexico - Syntactical Stylistic Devices

While in lexical SDs the desired effect is achieved through theinteraction of lexical meanings of words and in syntactical SDs through thesyntactical arrangement of elements, the third group of SDs is based on theemployment of both - fixed structure and determined scope of lexicalmeanings

Climax, according to Galperin, “is an arrangement of sentences (or of

the homogeneous parts of one sentence) which secures a gradual increase insignificance, importance, or emotion tension in the utterance.” [3, p.219]Thus, a climax is the point at which a conflict or crisis reaches its peak thatcalls for a resolution or conclusion It functions to render balance and brevity

to speech or writing Being properly employed, it qualifies itself as a powerfultool that can instantly capture the undivided attention of listeners and readersalike.The gradual increase in significance may be maintained in three ways:logical, emotional and quantitative

For example:

- “Beauty is but a vain and doubtful good;

A shining gloss that vadeth suddenly;

A flower that dies when first it grins to bud;

A brittle glass that’s broken presently:

A doubtful good, a gloss, a glass, a flower,

Lost, vaded, broken, dead within an hour.” (William Shakespearse,

1599)

The phrase “dead within an hour” is placed at the very end as it marksthe climax of the fate of beauty which he introduces as “a vain and doubtfulgood”

Antithesis, literal meaning opposite, is a rhetorical device in which two

opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect.Antithesis emphasizes the idea of contrast by parallel structures of thecontrasted phrases or clauses, i.e the structures of phrases and clauses aresimilar in order to draw the attention of the listeners or readers

Paradox is a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or silly but

may include a latent truth It is used to illustrate an opinion or statementcontrary to accepted traditional ideas to make a reader think over an idea ininnovative way Readers enjoy more when they extract the hidden meaningsout of the writing rather than something presented to them in an uncomplicatedmanner Besides, poets usually make use of a paradox to create a remarkablethought or image out of words Paradox in most poems normally strives tocreate feelings of intrigue and interest in readers’ minds to make them thinkdeeper and harder to enjoy the real message of the poem [36]

For example:

- Your enemy’s friend is your enemy.

- I am nobody.

Litotes is a figure of speech which employs an understatement by using

double negatives or, in other words, positive statement is expressed bynegating its opposite expressions Litotes uses ironical understatement inorder to emphasize an idea or situation rather than minimizing its importance

It rather discovers a unique way to attract people’s attention to an idea andthat is by ignoring it Bergmann [1992] in his book “Talk at Work: Interaction

in Institutional Settings” talks about litotes in the following words: “I want

to claim that the rhetorical figure litotes is one of those methods which areused to talk about an object in a discreet way It clearly locates an object forthe recipient, but it avoids naming it directly.” [7, p 268]

For example:

- They do not seem the happiest couple around.

- The ice cream was not too bad.

- New York is not an ordinary city

Simile is the comparison between two objects of different kinds which

have at least one common point According to Richards, Platt and Platt[1992], “Simile is an expression in which something is compared somethingelse by the use of a function word such as LIKE or AS” [7, p.143] Usingsimiles attracts the attention and appeals directly to the senses of listeners orreaders encouraging their imagination to comprehend what is beingcommunicated In addition, it inspires life-like quality in our daily talks and inthe characters of fiction or poetry Simile allows readers to relate the feelings

of a writer or a poet to their personal experiences Therefore, the use ofsimiles makes it easier for the readers to understand the subject matter of aliterary text, which may have been otherwise too demanding to be

comprehended Like metaphors, similes also offer variety in our ways ofthinking and offers new perspectives of viewing the world.

For example:

- Our soldiers are as brave as lions.

- Her cheeks are red like a rose.

- “O my Luve’s like a red, red rose

That’s newly sprung in June;

O my Luve’s like the melodie

That’s sweetly played in tune.” (Robert Burns, 1794)

- Phonetic Stylistic Devices

Phonetic SDs deal with the sound instrumenting of the utterance and

are mainly found in poetry

Alliteration is defined in “Stylistics” by Galperin: “is a phonetic

rhetorical device which aims at imparting a melodic effect to the utterance.”[3, p.121] Alliteration has a very vital role in poetry and prose It creates amusical effect in the text that enhances the pleasure of reading a literary piece

It makes reading and recitation of the poems attractive and appealing; thus,making them easier to learn by heart Furthermore, it renders flowand beauty to a piece of writing

For example:

- “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes:

A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life.” (William Shakespearse,

1996)

- “The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,

The furrow followed free;

We were the first that ever burst

Into that silent sea” (Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1798)

Onomatopoeia is defined as a word, which imitates the natural sounds

of a thing It creates a sound effect that mimics the thing described, makingthe description more expressive and interesting It helps the readers to hearthe sounds the words they reflect Hence, the readers cannot help but enter theworld created by the poet with the aid of these words

For example:

- The buzzing bee flew away.

- The sack fell into the river with a splash.

- “He saw nothing and heard nothing but he could feel his heart pounding

and then he heard the clack on stone and the leaping, dropping clicks of a small

rock falling.” (Ernest Hemingway, 1940)

Rhythm is a literary device which demonstrates the long and short

patterns through stressed and unstressed syllables particularly in verse form.Rhythm in writing acts as beat does in music

For example:

- “Half a league, half a league” (Tennyson, 1936)

- “Tiger! Tiger! Burning bright

In the forest of the night” (William Blake, 1794)

Rhyme is a repetition of similar sounding words occurring at the end of

lines in poems or songs It is employed for the specific purpose of rendering apleasing effect to a poem which makes its recital an enjoyable experience.Moreover, it offers itself as a mnemonic device smoothing the progress ofmemorization

For example:

- “Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?

Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!

One for the master, one for the dame

And one for the little boy who lives down the lane.”

2.2.2 Role of literary devices

Literary devices are the heart and soul of every expression Thesedevices breathe life in words which are common to all forms of a languagewhether it is a narrative, story-writing, drama, journalistic writing or poetry.Imagine a person's feelings, landscape, speech or views on a subject, statedplainly without the aid of a literary device It would be a dull task We all love

to see our favorite characters delivering wonderful dialogs with great passionand intensity, beautiful scenery well depicted, excellent speeches delivered or

an opinion clearly reflected All these expressions are a manifestation of the

beauty of words, which we refer to as literary devices The English language

encompasses a host of literary devices that make it so rich and expressive.They provide a broad structure under which all the types of literature areclassified, studied and understood The importance of literary devicestherefore cannot be underestimated

2.2.3 Translation

a Definition of Translation

Generally, translation is a process of rendering meaning, ideas, ormessages of a text from one language to other language However, manyexperts also gave different definitions of translation as follows:

One of the most prominent one is stated by Newmark [1988] whodefines translation as “rendering the meaning of a text into another language

in the way that the author intended the text” [10, p.5] This definition stresses

on rendering meaning of the source language text into the target language text

as what is intended by the author Hatim and Munday [2004] definetranslation as “the process of transferring a written text from source language(SL) to target language (TL)” [9, p.6] In this definition they do not explicitly

express that the object being transferred is meaning or message Theyemphasis on translation as a process Nida and Taber [1982], on the otherhand, state that “translating consists in reproducing in the receptor languagethe closest natural equivalent of the source language message” [11, p.12].This definition is more comprehensive than the previous ones Nida andTaber explicitly state that translation is closely related to the problems oflanguages, meaning, and equivalence

All in all, there are so many different definitions of translation but theyall share one thing in common Translation is a process which is intended tofind meaning equivalence in the target text

b Translation Methods

Newmark [1988] lists the following translation methods:

 Word-for-word translation: preservation of word order and as literaltranslation as possible of individual words, including cultural words

 Literal translation: apart from as literal as possible translation ofindividual words, grammatical structures are converted into the nearesttarget language equivalents

 Faithful translation: stays, if possible, within the constraints of thegrammatical structures of the target text, but draws on certaincontextual factors

 Semantic translation: more emphasis on naturalness than in faithfultranslation, and translation of certain cultural words into neutralequivalents in the TL

 Communicative translation: aims at reproducing the exact message ofthe source text content-wise and context-wise but with emphasis onnaturalness and acceptability/comprehensiveness to the target textreadership

 Idiomatic translation: makes use of idioms and colloquialisms that arenot present in the source text

 Free translation: focuses on the content of the target text rather than theform, which means that the same content is expressed in the target textbut with very different grammatical structures

 Adaptation: the freest form of translation and more of a targetlanguage/culture based on the interpretation of the source text than atranslation

 Cultural equivalent: it means replacing a cultural word in the SL with a

TL one However, “they are not accurate” [10, p.83]

 Functional equivalent: it requires the use of a culture-neutral word [10,p.83]

 Descriptive equivalent: in this procedure the meaning of the CBT isexplained in several words [10, p.83]

 Componential analysis: it means “comparing an SL word with a TLword which has a similar meaning but is not an obvious one-to-oneequivalent, by demonstrating first their common and then theirdiffering sense components.” [10, p.114]

 Synonymy: it is a “near TL equivalent.” Here economy trumpsaccuracy [10, p.84]

 Through-translation: it is the literal translation of common collocations,names of organizations and components of compounds It can also becalled: calque or loan translation [10, p.84]

 Shifts or transpositions: it involves a change in the grammar from SL to

TL, for instance, (i) change from singular to plural, (ii) the changerequired when a specific SL structure does not exist in the TL, (iii)change of an SL verb to a TL word, change of an SL noun group to a

TL noun and so forth [10, p.86]

 Modulation: it occurs when the translator reproduces the message ofthe original text in the TL text in conformity with the current norms ofthe TL, since the SL and the TL may appear dissimilar in terms ofperspective [10, p.88]

 Recognized translation: it occurs when the translator “normally uses theofficial or the generally accepted translation of any institutional term.”[10, p.89]

 Compensation: it occurs when loss of meaning in one part of a sentence

is compensated in another part [10, p.90]

 Paraphrase: in this procedure the meaning of the CBT is explained.Here the explanation is much more detailed than that of descriptiveequivalent [10, p.91]

 Couplets: it occurs when the translator combines two differentprocedures [10, p.91]

 Notes: notes are additional information in a translation [10, p.91]

2.2.4 The Author Yann Martel

Yann Martel was born on June 25, 1963, in Salamanca, Spain, toCanadian parents When Martel was a young boy, his parents joined the

Canadian Foreign Services, and the family moved frequently, living inAlaska, France, Costa Rica, Ontario, and British Columbia Martel went on tostudy philosophy at Trent University in Ontario, where he discovered a lovefor writing After graduating in 1985, Martel lived with his parents andworked a number of odd jobs while continuing to write fiction He published a

collection of short stories, The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios,in 1993 and a novel, Self, in 1996, but neither book received much critical or

commercial attention In 2002, however, Martel’s international literary

reputation was sealed with the publication of Life of Pi, a runaway bestseller

that went on to win the prestigious Man Booker Prize (awarded each year tothe best English-language novel written by a Commonwealth or Irish author)and had since been translated into thirty languages Fox 2000 pictures boughtthe screen rights to Martel’s novel, and a feature film is expected in 2008

2.2.5 The Novel “Life of Pi”

Yann Martel’s Life of Pi is the story of a young man who survives a

harrowing shipwreck and months in a lifeboat with a large Bengal tigernamed Richard Parker The beginning of the novel covers Pi’s childhood andyouth His family owns and runs a zoo in their hometown in India, and hisfather is emphatic about being aware of the wildness and true nature ofanimals, namely that they are not meant to be treated like or thought of aspeople Early in Pi’s life, his father realizes that his son’s naiveté about thetiger in their care may put Pi in danger To illustrate how true and real thethreat is, he forces the children to watch the tiger kill and eat a goat

Pi goes through a significant religious awakening in his formativeyears, eventually subscribing to a variety of religions: Hinduism, Catholicism,and finally Islam Although the religious leaders don’t accept Pi’s plural

religions, his family gradually does, and he remains a devout follower of allhis religious paths for his entire life.

When Pi is a teenager, his family decides to sell the animals and

immigrate to Canada on a cargo ship named Tsimtsum A terrible storm

occurs during the voyage, and when Pi, excited to see the storm, goes onto theship’s deck, he is tossed overboard and into a lifeboat by the crew The nextmorning, he finds himself in the company of a badly injured zebra, a vicioushyena, and a matronly orangutan named Orange Juice Hiding out of sight,beneath the canvas of the lifeboat, is the tiger Richard Parker The hyenawounds and eats the zebra, then goes after Orange Juice The orangutan puts

up a good fight, but the hyena ultimately kills her Richard Parker finallymakes himself known by killing and eating the hyena Now only Pi andRichard Parker survive on the lifeboat

How Pi and Richard Parker survive in the Pacific Ocean makes up therest of the novel Pi realizes he must survive the elements while adrift in thelifeboat - and that Richard Parker will almost certainly eat him He quicklysees that thirst will kill him sooner than hunger or the tiger, so he sets aboutfinding a way to get water He discovers provisions stored in the lifeboat,including biscuits, water, water purifiers, a whistle, and a handbook forsurviving at sea With the tools of survival in hand, Pi builds a secondwatercraft - a raft made of oars and lifejackets - and attaches it to the boat.With this second watercraft, he can remain out of both the shark-infestedwaters and Richard Parker’s immediate reach He considers a variety ofsurvival options and concludes that he must tame the tiger Although he isunable to fully train and domesticate Richard Parker, by blowing a whistleand rocking the lifeboat enough to make the tiger seasick, Pi is able to subduehim and secure his own territory on the lifeboat

Pi goes temporarily blind and loses his mind He begins having aconversation with Richard Parker in which they mutually fantasize about thekinds of foods they would like to eat Pi fixates on vegetarian delicacies, andRichard Parker continues to revise the recipes with meat as the mainingredient At first Pi is morally outraged at the idea of eating meat, but then

he realizes that it is Richard Parker’s preference During this fantasticalexchange, another castaway in a lifeboat appears, also blind and also veryhungry Pi allows the man, who speaks with a French accent, on the lifeboat,believing him to be a true companion The man attacks Pi, saying that heintends to eat him; Richard Parker attacks and consumes the man

Richard Parker and Pi eventually find an island, which is made entirely

of trees, roots, leaves, fresh water, and plants However, Pi makes a horriblediscovery that causes them to leave the island: Believing he has found a fruit-bearing tree, Pi peels back the layers of a piece of fruit to find that it contains

a human tooth The island is a carnivorous being, consuming everything thatlives on it Pi and Richard Parker return to the lifeboat and the ocean

An undetermined amount of time passes, and Pi and Richard Parkerarrive in Mexico Richard Parker runs into the wild and is never seen again Pi

is brought into custody, given food, and questioned for some time by twoofficials from the Maritime Department in the Japanese Ministry of Transport.The officials’ transcript of the conversation reveals that they do not believePi’s story in its entirety, and they tell him so Initially Pi sticks to his story,but then he offers them another, somewhat similar story in which he sharesthe lifeboat with a crew member of the sunken ship, his own mother, and afoul-tempered French cook who eventually kills both Pi’s mother and thecrewman Pi tells of how he then stabbed the French cook in the throat andwatched him die This second account seems to satisfy the skepticism of the

questioners, but they admit to Pi that his account of surviving with the tigeraboard the lifeboat is a better story.

2.2.6 Translator Trinh Lu

Trinh Lu’s real name is Trinh Huu Tuan After graduating from theMining Department of the Ha Noi University of Technology, he took a job atRadio Voice of Viet Nam in 1970 as an English programme announcer for 16years He moved to New York in 1987 and worked in a number of positionsafter completing a master’s degree in communications at Cornell University In

2002, his children had already gone to university; Trinh Lu decided his time inthe US was through and he headed home Since then, he has embarked on anew journey, translating literature, and has already earned quite a reputation

among Vietnamese readers Two years after Life of Pi took the Man Booker

Prize, Trinh Lu earned the Ha Noi Writers’ Association Award for a TranslatedBook in 2004 and then won the Viet Nam Writers’ Association Official Awardfor a Translated Book in 2005

2.2.7 Literary values of the novel “Life of Pi”

Every masterpiece contributes significantly numerous literary values tothe world of literature and the novel “Life of Pi” is not an exception

A good writer is a person who can build into a literary structure certainsigns which wake readers up to their duty to disbelieve and believe at thesame time It means he can balance between an essential falseness and anessential truth within a story We see some of them clearly if we consider for

a moment Martel’s tale distinct from his telling of it: A 16-year-old boyemigrating by ship from India to Canada with his family and a cargo of zooanimals escapes from the vessel as it sinks in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and

he survives for 227 days, in a lifeboat, in the company of an adolescent RoyalBengal tiger named Richard Parker Related in this summary, the tale