On Satirical Metaphor Translation In Fortress Besieged In The Light Of Functional Equivalence

The thesis explores the issue of satirical metaphor translation in Fortress Besieged, the English version of Wei Cheng, from the perspective of Functional Equivalent Theory.The Functional Equivalent Theory proposed by Eugene A. Nida holds that no translation is ever completely equivalent. Whether or not the two versions are equivalent should be judged by the degree of the correspondence between the responses the TL readers and the SL readers have towards their respective versions. Their responses will never be identical if a high degree of language- culture non-correspondence between the source and target languages exists. However, the two responses should to the largest extent be close, otherwise translation will violate its original intention. Therefore, the way in which the original receptors understand and appreciate the text should not differ much from the way in which the receptors of the translated text understand and appreciate the translated text.Since Aristotle's time, metaphor has been actively making its appearance in scholars'research documents. Metaphor is traditionally confined to a rhetorical device. Modern metaphor study grants it a cognitive sense and divides it into various types such as simile and implicit metaphor, etc. As a cognitive phenomenon, metaphor helps us to describe an object more vividly by using another object with similar attributes.Satirical metaphor, a combined use of satire and metaphor, as a frequently-seen form of expression, circuitously caricatures an object by granting it an image of another to bring about artistic effects. It indirectly conveys depth and usually in a more implicit, witty, funny manner.Wei Cheng written by Ch'ien Chung- shu, a great novel in satirical literature, employs numerous brilliant metaphors which have achieved a humorous effect. In this thesis, only metaphors combined with satire are discussed. This research attempts to provide an approach for the study of satirical metaphor and its translation in Fortress Besieged from the perspective of Functional Equivalent Theory, evaluate the adequacy of translation and analyze the treatment and arouse readers'interest in and attention to metaphor combined with satire. The study finds out translators mainly adopt literal translation in Fortress Besieged by keeping the original Chinese culture to target readers. Owing to Ch'ien's years of overseas studies, his novel is rich in western- culture-related metaphors, which are familiar to western readers. These parts and those satirical metaphors with cultural overlapping could achieve the ideal, maximal functional equivalence while in other cases where cultures with unique Chinese characteristics exist, ideal functional equivalence is rarely achieved.