LEXICAL AND GRAMMATICAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN CHARLES DICKENS’S GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Abstract

This study explores the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, with emphasis placed on the concepts of translation shift, particularly the application of the related terminology such as structure shift, class shift, lexical substitution, transposition, modulation, and equivalence. The paper aims at applying the theory developed by linguists and translators J. C. Catford and Pete Newmark, along with Vinay & Darbelnet, to understand the process of translation related to the novel. The novel Great Expectations, written by the author Charles Dickens, can be appropriately defined as a Bildungsroman novel. This novel was published by Charles Dickens during the Victorian Age of the United Kingdom. In this novel, the process of development, both moral and mental, associated with the main character Pip, has been portrayed. Moreover, the Victorian Age’s social patterns have also been included. The novel requires various difficulties while translating because of the differences between the cultures and languages. In this respect, various translation shifts are incorporated. The transformation of the novel requires several translation shifts, such as structure shift, class shift, lexical substitution, transposition, modulation, and equivalence.