Literal Translation and Free Translation: an Examination from the Perspective of Artistic Conception Transmitted in the Two Versions of Tess

Artistic conception is the soul of literary translation.Literal translation and free translation are not only the two methods but also the two disputing ones in translation field.On the basis of stating the definitions of literal translation,free translation and the relationship between them,the definition of literary translation and its main task,the author compares and analyses Zhang Guruo's Chinese version of Tess and Sun Zhili and Tang Huixin's version.By Comparing and analyzing the two versions' differences in words and syntax,and how these differences affect the transmitting of the artistic conception of the original work,the paper explores which method is better to perfectly transmit the artistic conception of the original work,literal translation or free translation.