On The Translation Of Humor In Fortress Besieged From A Functionalist Perspective

Ever since it was introduced by Reiss Vermeer in the 1970s, functionalist translation theory has been widely accepted and applied for its appropriateness in instrumental translation and translator training. According to the kernel concept of functionalist translation theory—Skopostheorie, during the whole translating process, the translator is the most active participant who can decide on the status of the source text and the translation strategies to be adopted on the basis of his or her understanding of the translation Skopos and the translation brief.In contrast with traditional translation theories, especially source text-oriented theories, functionalist translation theory shifts its focus to the function or the Skopos of the translation and lists various factors such as the source text author, the initiator, the target text reader, the Skopos of the target text and so forth into its research scope. In this way, it liberates the translator from the shackle of equivalence and improves the translator's subjectivity as well as the translatability of some text genres.However, functionalist translation theory is by no means an omnipotent theory. Among the constant criticisms, the most representative one is the claim that functionalist translation theory is inapplicable to literary translation. Even in Mainland China, the increasing academic attention to functionalist translation theory is concentrated on the introduction of this theory or the applicability of this theory to translator training and instrumental translation. As to its appropriateness in literary translation, scant research has been conducted yet and this thesis is just a tentative attempt to bridge the gap.Based on the translation of humor in Fortress Besieged, this thesis is aimed at investigating the translation strategies adopted by Jeanne Kelly and Nathan K. Mao in the translation of humors and the legitimacy of them in terms of the Skopos of their English version. The whole analytical process will be a functional one, during which all the humorous examples cited are examined from how the humorous effect is represented in the English version of Fortress Besieged in the hope of presenting a fair and reasonable judgment on it.The case study leads to the finding that, Kelly and Mao's English version is still a version awaiting much improvement in aspects of the humorous effect. Many humorous sentences in Fortress Besieged do not undergo necessary cultural adjustments and fail to make sense to the target text readers, who are supposed to savor the flavor of Fortress Besieged, especially Qian's charm of humorous writing techniques. In this sense, the translators' intention or Skopos in translating this novel fails to be accomplished and this version is thus unsuccessful.