Effectiveness of ChatGPT in Translating Non-Fiction Under the Perspective of Syntactic Iconicity: A Case Study of Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper

Abstract

Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper, a popular non-fiction, is an evocative memoir that traverses the rich tapestry of Sichuan cuisine, intertwining truthfulness and artistry. Fuchsia Dunlop's narrative is peppered with vivid descriptions and linguistic nuances that serve not only to convey information but also to evoke sensory experiences and emotional responses. As syntactic iconicity is a significant source of psychological and aesthetic effects in textualization, it can be seen as both a pivotal point of observation and a method of measurement in the translation of stylistically sensitive literary works. This paper aims to find out whether AI translation models are able to discern the phenomenon of syntactic iconicity, and accordingly retain this linguistic mechanism observed in the source texts so as to render stylistically sensitive translation.