The Translation Of Figures Of Speech In Chinese Literature

It is well known that translating is a complex and fascinating task. The use of figurative language is universal, but the precise figures of speech in one language rarely match those in another, which brings about tremendous difficulties to the translation of figures of speech, because the paradoxes of translating are basically the paradoxes of language and of culture. The author of the thesis makes a study and exploration of the main idea and principles of Nida's theory with highlight of his"functional equivalence", as well as Newmark's theory with highlight of his"translation and culture". It is true that translation practice is inseparable from translation theories, however, there is no elaborate formulas or theories to follow in translation practice. So the author introduces the above two translation theories flexibly into the discussion of the translation of figures of speech in Chinese literature into English. By means of translating some typical figures of speech in Chinese literature, the thesis analyzes both the cultural elements in some figures of speech in Chinese literature and the differences between Chinese and Western cultures as reflected in figures of speech, thus putting forward some rules and methods in translating such figures of speech in Chinese literature, trying to better the translation to a very real extent of functional equivalence and achieve cross-cultural communication. Translating figures of speech in Chinese literature obviously involves the methods of foreignization and domestication. Different persons have different preferences to the two translation methods, and in the translation practice, each of them has its advantages as well as disadvantages. So it is hard to draw a clear line between them. The thesis turns away from the further discussion of the two methods, but emphasizes the point that only in a method is the translation of figures of speech in Chinese literature loyalty in meaning, identity in style and similarity in form, and the method is applicable and workable.The thesis is divided into five parts. The first part makes an introduction to the thesis, pointing out the importance of study of the translation of figures of speech. It does not only simply introduces some translation theories and translation examples of figures of speech in Chinese literature, but mainly focuses on analyzing and comparing different translations...