The Manifestations Of Equivalence Theory In Chinese Traditional Translation Theories

The establishment of modern Chinese translatology can not be separatedfrom the transformation and inheritance of the traditional translation theoriesandreferencetotheWesterntranslationtheories, whichhasbeenspokenoutandproved by many translators and theorists. The aim of this thesis is to build up aplatform by classifying and comparing the theories both in Chinese and theWestern traditions, which will make the dialogue between Chinese and theWestern translation theories easier. Although Chinese traditional translationtheories have some unscientific and unsystematic deficiencies, they are worthyof considerations by the theorists, for they provide a lot of nutrition forestablishingChinesemoderntranslatology.Chapteroneis abouttofindoutthetheoreticalproblemsconcernedbybothChinese and the Western translation theories by comparison, and moreover, toexpose the manifestations of equivalence theory—the most influentialtranslation theory in the West in Chinese traditional translation theories. Mosttheorists in China confine their studies to the research of the chronologicaldivision about Chinese traditional translation theories, but seldom do they maketheir research on the nature of the theories. However, as a representative, WangHongyin has begun the generalization and transformation of Chinese traditionaltranslation theories according to their fundamental characteristics. All thesestudiesbuildupthetheoreticalfoundationofthisthesis.As for the kernel theories of translation theories, in this thesis I haveclassified three problems which are concerned by both Chinese and the Westerntheorists, i.e. translation strategies and methods, translation principles and criteria and the consideration of the target language readers. Through theclassification and the interpretation about the traditional Chinese and Westerntranslation theories, the differences between them can be classified as follows:pragmaticality vs. theoreticism, covert understanding vs. overt formalization,intuitive vs. postulational thinking, conservatism vs. innovation, and neutralismvs.mysticism.Chapter two is about the origin of translation equivalence, the definition oftranslation equivalence and a survey on different views on this issue. In chapterthree, some kernel theoretical problems such as the nature of equivalence, thetranslationprinciples andcriteriaandthetypologyoftranslationequivalenceareillustrated in detail. All these argumentations build up another theoreticalfoundationofthisthesis.The fourth chapter is the principal part of the thesis. The manifestations ofequivalence theory in Chinese traditional translation theories are exposedthoroughly. Firstly, from the discussion on the cultural translatability anduntranslatability, I elicit two important translation strategies and methods:domestication and foreignization. Then, by comparing Yan Fu, Lin Shu andNida's application of domestication in their translation, the consistency of theirtheoriesintheaspectoftranslationstrategiesandmethodsisproved.Andthen, Iargued on the consistency between their theories in the aspect of translationprinciples and criteria bycomparingNida and Yan Fu's attitudes to faithfulness.In the end, I exposed the consideration of the target language readers both inNidaandinYanFu'stranslationpracticeandtheories.The last chapter is the conclusion. From the study made above, we candraw the conclusion that both Chinese and the Western translation theorists payenoughandsimilarattentiontothestudiesontranslationstrategiesandmethods,translation principles and criteria, and the consideration of the target languagereaders and in many aspects they share the same viewpoints. This will provide enough evidences for the dialogue between Chinese and the Western translationstudies, and thereby prove that the establishment of Chinese moderntranslatology can not be separated from the transformation of the traditionalexperiences and the reference to the foreign theoretical achievements.