What is the Relationship among Multiple Translations of the Same Original? — A Stylometric Approach

Multiple translations generated from the same original text are interrelated and constitute a retranslation phenomenon. Enlightened by stylometry, this study integrates cluster analysis, cosine similarity analysis, and multidimensional factor analysis to construct a brand-new approach to studying multiple translations of the same original. Three Chinese translations of The Moon and Sixpence serve as a case. The results show that Li’s and Xu’s translations are similar but different from Fu’s. Such similarities and differences are reflected in the three style dimensions of “textual cohesion”, “source language shining-through effect”, and “readability”. Specifically, the style of Fu’s translation is characterized by hypotactic textual cohesion, strong source language shining-through effect, and low readability, while the other two translations are the opposite. Different socio-historical contexts mainly determine such differences. Due to the intervention of Xu Chungang’s poet identity in his translation behavior, Xu’s translation even strengthens the feature of paratactic textual cohesion. The first translation by Fu is closer to the original text than the two later translations, which does not fit into the retranslation hypothesis. This indicates that the hypothesis excludes one retranslation tendency, i.e., from respecting foreign cultures to adapting to local cultures. This paper argues that the hypothesis simplifies the complexity of socio-historical contexts behind translations. The study provides an interdisciplinary methodological perspective for exploring the relationship among multiple translations of the same source.