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Character Depiction Translation In Fortress Besieged: A Study From The Perspective Of Functional Equivalence

Posted on:2012-07-11Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:Y Q GuanFull Text:PDF
GTID:2155330335958610Subject:English Language and Literature
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Ever since 1960s, the term of "translation equivalence" has become an essential issue in translation studies both in China and abroad, among all the representatives the most famous one is Nida. His Functional Equivalence Theory is one of the earliest theories which were introduced and it is quite influential. This thesis intends to analyze the character depiction in Fortress Besieged from the perspective of Functional Equivalence Theory, in an attempt to see whether the translations have been appropriate and achieved optimal effect on the one hand, and, on the other hand, to help the target readers understand and appreciate the translated version, having a taste of author's wide knowledge and the excellent translating skill of the authors.Different from other theories, Functional Equivalence Theory not only brings translation into the field of linguistics like the other theories do, but in the meantime, it introduces culture and reader's response into translation studies. According to Nida, reader's response is the criterion for the evaluation of the quality of translations. The core of Functional Equivalence Theory is to achieve the maximum level equivalence, or minimum level equivalence from style and reader's response upon the source language. He holds that "the best translation does not sound like a translation." this stresses the importance of the receptor's response. Besides formal equivalence, Functional Equivalence Theory requires translator's wide knowledge of source language and try hard to achieve functional equivalence.This thesis explores Jeanne Kelly and Nathan K. Mao's Translation of Weicheng, analyzing the character depiction from different angles including portrait depiction, mental depiction, action and speech depiction and appellation depiction. The study indicates that in most cases, translators have kept the original images; sometimes the translators adopted some specific translation methods such as literal translation, addition, subtraction, alteration and annotation to realize functional equivalence. The study shows that though the translation is not perfect, it has still achieved the optimal effect. Analysis of Weicheng and its translation testifies that the Functional Equivalence Theory has played the guiding role in translation practice.This thesis consists of five chapters including introduction and conclusion.The first Chapter is the introduction, including the motivation for this study, its significance, the language data to be used, and the thesis structure. Chapter Two introduces the theoretic basis of this study, and focuses on functional equivalence. It summarizes the scientific basis of translation equivalence and previous studies on equivalence, and also introduces Nida's translation theory and his Functional Equivalence Theory. Chapter Three analyzes character depiction in Weicheng from different angles, including portrait depiction, speech and action depiction, mental depiction and appellation depiction, as well as cultural differences between China and western countries. In Chapter Four, the author analyzes character depiction in Weicheng and its English version Fortress Besieged from the perspective of functional equivalence in details. Chapter Five is conclusion, which summarizes the findings, points out the limitations of the study, and offers suggestions for further research.
Keywords/Search Tags:Functional Equivalence Theory, Fortress Besieged, character depiction, receptor's response
PDF Full Text Request
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