Comparison of the translations of the novel "War and Peace" under the theory of communicative translation – taking the translations of Caoying, Liu Liaoyi and Zhang Jie as an example

based on the communicative translation theory, this paper systematically compares the practical differences between the Chinese translations of "War and peace" by Cao Ying, Liu Liaoyi and Zhang Jie. A successful translation lies not only in the accurate conveyance of information, but also in the ability to make readers of different cultural backgrounds feel the charm and depth of the original work. Focusing on the four dimensions of character setting, situational context, logic and expression habits of translation, and culture-specific item, it reveals how the translators balance between fidelity and readability. In-depth discussion of the differences in the translations of various translators and comprehensive evaluation are conducted to summarize the differences in their handling of cultural factors, linguistic expression and information transmission, further verifying the guiding value of communicative translation theory for literary translation - establishing an adaptive balance between semantic precision and reader acceptance with the help of dynamic equivalence mechanisms, through reader-oriented text reconstruction, which not only transmits the artistic essence of the original but also facilitates the dialogue of civilizations, and contributes to the provide methodological references for classical retranslation in cross-cultural contexts.

communicative translation theory, War and Peace, translation comparison