| This is a translation report based on Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole.The aim of the report is to discuss how to achieve equivalence between English and Chinese under the guidance of Eugene A.Nida’s Functional Equivalence Theory.The source text Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole is a work of prose.Half of the book is a memoir,and the other half is a discussion of neuroscience,pop psychology,music,and art.This book lies somewhere between literature and non-literature,an intermediate text type.Based on the analysis of the source text and guided by Nida’s Functional Equivalence Theory,the translator started the translation task with an attempt to provide readers with a target text that is rich in content,fluent in expression,and clear in logic so as to maximize the equivalence between the source text and the target text.This translation report,guided by the theory of Functional Equivalence,analyzes translation cases from three dimensions: lexicon,syntax,and discourse.To accurately convey the meaning of the source text and strive to achieve the effect called for by the theory,the translator uses some effective translation techniques,such as literal translation,free translation,transliteration,adding,restructuring,and so on.The translation practice has not only enriched the translator’s knowledge reserve but also accumulated some practical experience in the translation of prose texts from English to Chinese.At the lexical level,some equivalent words can be translated into their equivalent meaning in the target language by means of a literal translation;some translation techniques such as transliteration,free translation,or additional could be adopted to translate culture-loaded words in order to retain their cultural connotations.If necessary,the relevant background knowledge should be explained in the footnotes.At the syntactic level,the translator should analyze the linguistic characteristics of the original text and consider the expression of the target language so as to achieve syntactic conversion and coherence between the two languages.Formal equivalence and functional equivalence are not contradictory.Pursuing formal equivalence to the maximum extent is also an effective way to achieve functional equivalence.Furthermore,the translator should analyze the language characteristics of the original text and take into account the expression mode of the target language so as to smoothly realize the cohesion and conversion of the two languages in syntax.At the textual level,coherence is the main topic.Meaning coherence and formal coherence can make the text become an organic and unified whole.In text translation,coherent structures of equal value must be reconstructed in the target text.The methods of reference,conjunctions,and lexical cohesion should be well used to keep the original coherence in the translation.Translators should have a clear understanding of textual equivalence and always keep the integrity and unity of the text in the process of communication.Meanwhile,it is hoped that the translation practice report will provide some ideas for the translation of similar texts in the future.This report is composed of five chapters.Chapter One gives a brief introduction to the report,including the background and significance of the project,as well as the layout of the report.Chapter Two is the translation process,consisting of pre-translation,while-translation,and post-translation.Chapter Three is about the theoretical framework,which mainly elaborates on the definition and development of the functional equivalence theory,the reasons for choosing this theory,and the application of the functional equivalence theory in this translation.Chapter Four is a case study that is regarded as the essential part of the report.The functional equivalence theory is applied to help the author finish the translation practice through its guidance and principles.Chapter five is the concluding part,which refers to the gains,enlightenments,and limitations of the translation. |
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