From the complexities of Schizophrenia to the linguistics of Dialects and Singlish : a Chinese rendition of the sound of sch : a mental breakdown, a life journey by Danielle Lim

Abstract

Inspired by local author Danielle Lim’s English language biography of her uncle’s struggle with schizophrenia and her mother’s painful journey as both his and their mother’s caregiver, this capstone project explores translation strategies involved in presenting the complexities of the little-known Schizophrenia, as well as in converting Singlish and dialects to the Chinese language. Taking a functionalist perspective of translation, the Chinese rendition of The Sound of Sch: A Mental Breakdown, A Life Journey hopes to raise public awareness about mental illnesses in its target text readers, and to reduce social stigmatisation of the mentally ill in that process. The translation process involves managing the author’s intent, the function of the target text, textual coherence and fidelity, as well as achieving a balance between foreignisation and domestication. Through comparing the local version with that of a Taiwanese translator, differences in the strategies and perspectives involved will also be identified and discussed, shedding light on how best to create a target text that is both faithful to the source text and yet not without the translator’s unique individuality. Keywords: complexities of schizophrenia, public awareness, Singlish, dialects, function of the target text, coherence, fidelity, foreignisation, domestication.