Omission and its Impact on Character Reshaping in Literary Translation: A Case Study of Wolf Totem

Abstract

This article sets out to explore, from a socio-cultural perspective, the heavy use of omission in the English translation of a popular Chinese novel Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong and its side effect: the shifts that take place on the characterization of the main character in the translated text. The descriptive perspective on the use of omission, the highly motivated, deliberate operation, shows that this method is well justified when taking into consideration the socio-cultural constraints. Nevertheless, its side effects that come along cannot be overlooked.