A Comparative Study Of The Three Chinese Versions Of The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

This thesis makes a comparative study of the three Chinese versions of the world famous masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of German functional approaches to translation. Through the exploring of the differences of the Chinese versions, the thesis attempts to show the application of functional approaches in literary translation.The thesis is divided into four chapters besides Introduction and Conclusion.Chapter One offers the literature relevant. Firstly, Mark Twain's life and literary career are summarized; secondly, a brief survey of the book and its translation history in China are generally stated; at last, the three Chinese versions are introduced with their translators, and the reasons why these versions should be chosen to study out of dozens of translations.Chapter Two deals with the German functional approaches to translation. They are introduced from three aspects: firstly, the background of the German functional approaches is generally summarized; secondly, the main translation opinions of Reiss, Vermeer, Manttari, and Nord are introduced respectively; at last, the spread and acceptance of functional approaches to translation, both in the western world and in China, are generally introduced.Chapter Three is the main body of the thesis. A comparative study of the three versions is made from the perspective of functional approaches. The translation strategies differ from one version to another, for the translation skopos, the recipients, the text functions, etc. are different, and thus the translations diversify. Functional approaches consider translation as a multi-language and multi-cultural action with translation skopos as its principle which brings together the original author, the translator, and the target text reader etc., therefore, a multi-dimensional perspective should be used for the evaluation of translations. First, the versions are compared from the perspective of meaning. Meaning can not be ignored either in literary translation or non-literary translation. Functional approaches highlights the importance of translation skopos, however, it cannot be denied that being faithful to the original is itself the skopos, and it is the skopos made by most of the traditional literary translators. Then, the comparison takes place from the perspective of style. In terms of literary works, style weighs the same as meaning. One of the most distinguished features, which is the spirit of the book, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is the constant use of dialects. The three versions are different in the dealing of style, for their translation skopos, the target text readers, etc. are different. At last, the versions are compared from the perspective of cultural transference. Functional approaches emphasizes on the communicative function of intercultural transfer in the process of translating. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is written in pure American dialects, and the American culture it contains should by no means be ignored. The versions adopt either foreignization or domestication in dealing with the problem in order to achieve different translation skopos.Chapter four is formed on the basis of Chapter three. It explores the applicability of functional approaches in literary translation in order to express the significance of "function plus loyalty", which is advocated by functionalists nowadays. The German functional approaches, which is consummated based on Vermeer's skopos theory, emphasize on the dynamic balance of each translation parts including the original text, the translator, the translation, the target text reader, etc. and in this way, the final communicative purpose could be achieved. Functional approaches then will propose a new possibility and inspiration to the literary translation as well as the criticism of literary translation.The Conclusion sums up the whole thesis.