A Comparative Study Of The Three Chinese Versions Of David Copperfield From The Perspective Of Functionalist Translation Theory

David Copperfield, a world famous classic novel, has been translated into different languages all over the world. Since introduced into China in late Qing dynasty, it has been warmly received by Chinese translators. So far, there have been many different translated versions in China. This thesis chooses three versions which are translated by Dong Qiusi, Zhang Guruo and Zhuang Yichuan respectively as its research subjects to make a comparative study among them.Functionalist translation theory appeared in the 1970s, which has broken the traditional translation model based on the equivalence-linguistic translation approach. Functionalist translation theory considers translation as a purposeful and cross-cultural action. The theory focuses on whether the function of the target text has been achieved or not. At the beginning, the theory is only confined to analyze non-literary translation. Later, more and more scholars pay much attention to its application in literary translation. However, the related research on this aspect is still rare in translation field.The thesis intends to make a comparative study of the three versions of David Copperfield in light of three rules in functionalist theory, combining some important concepts such as different agents in translation, translation brief, etc. The aim of the thesis is to find out whether the function of the target text has achieved or not. At the same time, the thesis wants to find out which version has reproduced the function of the source text so that the target text readers can have the same feeling as the source text readers about the same literary works.The thesis analyzes the three versions of David Copperfield with the functionalist translation theory. On one hand, the thesis intends to review the development of the theory and its major concepts. On the other hand, it is a beneficial attempt for its application in literary translation. The multi-dimensional and dynamic factors of functionalist translation theory are applied to literary translation, which provides a new perspective for translation criticism and makes a contribution towards translation studies.