Functional Equivalence In The Translation Of Children's Literature:a Case Study Of The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer

This study explores the realization of Functional Equivalence in the translation of Children's Literature, through a comparative analysis of three Chinese versions of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.Unlike traditional translation theory, the principle of Functional Equivalence proposed by Nida provides a new set of criteria for translation criticism. This theory aims at producing a translation that is the closest natural equivalent of the original message, so as to be as distinctly understood and felt by the target language receptor as by the source language receptor. Children's literature, as a branch of literature, shares the common characteristics of literature and yet bears its own distinctive features. The theme and form of children's literary works need to be widely accepted and easily understood, and helpful to children's development of intelligence, interest and taste. As a classic children's novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer enjoys worldwide fame and is loved by children and adults from different countries of the world. This study is undertaken, based on the theory of Functional Equivalence, to answer the following two questions: 1) have all three versions achieved functional equivalence, if not, what are the reasons and 2) what are the specific requirements for the translators of children's literature?Through comparative studies of the three versions and the study between the originaltext and the target texts, the researcher has generated the following conclusions:1) The three versions have realized Functional Equivalence to obviously differentextents. Comparatively speaking, Cheng's version is the least equivalent while Zhu'sversion achieves the highest functional equivalence. The unbalance of functionalequivalence is due to two major factors. On one hand, the translator has not fullycomprehended the original meaning and sometimes merely, be satisfied with formal equivalence rather than functional equivalence; on the other hand, translators fail to recognize children's mentality in some cases. The unawareness of children's disposition together with the overuse of "adult language" has caused the unbalance of functional equivalence.2) Translators of Children's Literature should be acutely sensitive to children's stylistic preferences and familiar with the way they use language.3) Translators of Children's Literature should also have rich imagination and cultural background knowledge so as to achieve the maximum degree of functional equivalence in dealing with this special genre of literature.In the part of discussion, the researcher mentions that the translation of children's literature does not necessarily need as much "childish" language as possible. Cheng's version, lack literary grace and taste because of excessive use of "childish language", while Zhu's version and Zhang's version are in general both more graceful and beautiful. As many adults also take great delight in reading children's literary works, translators of children's literature should also observe the common guidelines for literary translation in addition to the above requirements generated and summed up in the major findings.This study bears theoretical significance in that it tests the validity of functional equivalence in the field of children's literature through comparative analysis of the three Chinese versions. In terms of practical significance, this study aims at summarizing valuable lessons for translators of children's literature, based on the distinctive features of literary works for young readers.