Functional Equivalence: An Analysis Of Zhao Yuanren's Translation Of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

This thesis aims at analyzing Zhao Yuanren's translation from the perspective of Nida's functional equivalence theory. Specifically, Nida's theories about functional equivalence will be introduced, including the introduction of Nida and the main focus of Nida's translation theories ranging from 1) nature, principles, and functions of translation; 2) word level—referential, connotative, and rhetorical meanings; and 3) sentence and discourse levels. After summarizing Nida's translation theories as a theoretical background, Zhao Yuanren's translation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland will be carefully analyzed to see how he achieved the closest functional equivalence at the levels of word, sentence and discourse. The main strategy Zhao Yuanren used for the functional equivalence at word level was substitution, in terms of rhetorical devices and cultural association. For the functional equivalence at sentence level, he adopted addition and reversion. When dealing with two extreme stylistic cases in discourse, he shifted the style of the Chinese text with Chinese stylistic markers. There will be specific examples to illustrate the strategies. To sum up, this thesis is a combination of the theory of functional equivalence and Zhao Yuanren's practice in the Chinese translation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.