Translation Equivalence: Between The Ideal And The Reality

Equivalence has been the central issue in translation studies although its definition, relevance, and applicability within the field of translation theory and practice have caused heated controversy in the past decades of years. Translation equivalence has become the highest criteria in translation, and also translators should work hard towards this ideal goal. The topics revolving around"equivalence translation"have never ceased since the birth of this concept. The thesis begins with reviewing the hot controversial arguments about"equivalence translation"from both western and Chinese theorists, in the meantime, makes a brief and personal comment. Then it discusses the"translatability"briefly. Thirdly, it presents some controversial issues surrounding"translation equivalence", such as form vs. content, literal translation vs. free translation, and foreignizing vs. domesticating translation, and mentions some approaches toward it. The outstanding contribution of translation equivalence theory lies in its easing the conflicts of above three pair of problems respectively. In succession, this thesis discusses in some detail the nature, characteristics, criteria and principles of equivalence by virtue of borrowing some predecessor's research findings from such field as linguistics, semantic, semiotics, pragmatic, intercultural communication etc. Besides above theoretical analysis, according to the concept of unit of translation, this thesis tries its best to deal at length with the methods and skills of equivalence translation at word level, sentences and clauses, and textual level in practice from the extent of lexis, syntaxes, textual analysis, and contrastive studies between English and Chinese. Lastly, it illustrates the application of translation equivalence in literary translation and in EST translation, which proved that translation equivalence is possible and relative to realize, the optimum is to reproduce the closest natural functional equivalent to SL message in the TT, and the equivalent ratio in translation differs from the style of the source text, the disparities of culture, the purpose of translation, even the skill and level of the translator etc. Therefore, the term"translation equivalence"reflects the nature and extent of equivalent relationship that exists between SL and TL texts or smaller linguistic units (such as phrases, sentences, words, even morphemes), and it has a degree of application to any type of text, but not the same degree of importance.