A Comparative Study On Two Chinese Versions Of The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Based On Function Plus Loyalty Theory

Since 1970 s,four German scholars,namely Reiss,Vermeer,Manttari and Nord,have raised,developed and enriched Functionalist Translation Theory,which provides us a new standpoint for the study of translation theories.The emergence and development of functionalist translation theory breaks the study of translation theory that centers on textual equivalence for many years.Compared to the traditional translation theories,such as “equivalence”,functionalist translation theory has its own unique features,especially in guiding the translation practice.As a representative of the second generation of German functionalist,Nord put forward her Function plus Loyalty Theory through constantly practicing and improving the functional translation theory.She thinks that the target text should achieve a certain function,and the translator should be responsible for the original author,readers and translation initiator at the same time.On the basis of fully respecting the original author and the original culture,translators should realize the communication and transformation of cultural differences between the original text and the target text as far as possible in the process of translation.As one of Mark Twain's most popular masterpieces,The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is such a classic that worth reading by readers all over the world.It has been translated into many Chinese versions,since published in 1884.For translators,their responsibilities are to express the intentions of the writer and reproducing the original artistic features of the novel for target language readers.The thesis conducts a comparative study on two famous Chinese translations of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by taking Nord's Function plus Loyalty Theory,mainly based on German Functionalist Translation Theory,as its theoretical framework.The application of Function plus Loyalty Theory is mainly from three aspects: namely the comparison on translation brief of the two Chinese versions,the application of function principle and the application of loyalty principle in two Chinese translations.The thesis consists of five parts--introduction,literature review,theoretical framework,comparative study and conclusion.Based on Function plus Loyalty,the author studies the advantages and disadvantages of these two Chinese translations of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in transferring the intentions of the writer and in showing the original artistic features of the novel,explores the possible causes for the performance of the two translators.This can not only promote readers' appreciation of the novel and its translation works,but also offers a new perspective for scholars to do more research and gives some helpful suggestions for re-translating the novel in the future.