On Xu Yuanchong's English Version Of Mao Zedong's Poems--From The Perspective Of Functional Equivalence

Ever since the implement of the reform and opening-up policy,our country has witnessed a sharp increase in national strength,which leads to the increasingly frequent cultural exchanges with other countries against the background of the expanding globalization.As an important means of cultural exchanges,the introduction of Chinese literary works to foreign countries through translation has been more and more frequent. Poetry,as a highest artistic form,is always considered as a resplendent pearl in Chinese literary treasure house as well as one of the most important literary genres in the introduction of Chinese literary works.Reputed as the greatest revolutionary poet,Mao Zedong(1893-1976) is well known for its multiple identities,such as revolutionary leader,historian,calligrapher,military strategist,writer and poet.It is just the special historical position Mao occupies and his rich and fluctuant life experiences that enable him to be an excellent and outstanding poet in the history of poetry composition.Not only the Chinese take pride in his poetic accomplishment,but also the foreigners are obsessed with his poetry through reading their translations.The translation of Mao Zedong's poems has long been the focus of translators and the translation critics, therefore,as time goes on,there are always new versions coming to fore.In recent years,the introduction of various foreign translation theories and the blooming of domestic translation studies make the translating of Mao Zedong's poems a new craze.What is most notable is the short period from 1992 to 1993 during which 5 versions with different styles were produced by 5 famous Chinese translators.Among the five,the version by Xu Yuanchong is commented and discussed most,for he fully applies the "Three Beauties Principle" to this version.As to the translation principles developed abroad,the noted American translator,theorist and scholar Eugene Nida is always mentioned by the translation practitioners and researchers,because he develops the renowned "functional equivalence theory" to guide translation.According to this theory, translation can never achieve the same equivalence as in the mathematic equation,but translators can practically try his or her best to approximate the possible maximal equivalence between the original and the target text in meaning,style and form,and this is the functional or dynamic equivalence.Nida's view has great instructive significance in translation practice,since translation is redirected to functional equivalence from the sole fidelity to the form of the source text.Trough a detailed and deep analysis of Xu's treatment of sense,style and form in his English version of Mao's poems published in 1993,the writer concludes that Professor Xu's sucessful demonstrration of the three beuties in his translation can be well explianed by using Nida's functional equivalence theory.In the end,the thesis suggests that translators should probe into the essence of various translation theories when employing them in translation practice,so that the coherence and relevance among them can be found.With the in-depth recognition of the guiding theories,translation is likely to be better done and the cross-cultural communication can be more successful.