On Translating The Humor Style Of Fortress Besieged

It is the primary purpose of this paper to evaluate the translation of humorous style in Fortress Besieged in the light of the translation theory of functional equivalence.Nida's theory of functional equivalence provides a completely new criterion for the evaluation of translated works, which shifts from the focus of message to that of the response of the receptor. The closest natural equivalent translation is the translation that can evoke from its readers the same response as the source text does from its readers. In this paper, the theory of functional equivalence serves as a principle by which to assess the English version of Fortress Besieged.As a modern Chinese classical work, Fortress Besieged is a satirical comical novel and its comical style to a large degree is achieved through the use of the verbal humor. While the author's humorous style is formed relying on his tactful and ingenious use of rhetorical tools. As the first English version of the novel, the translation by Jeanne Kelly and Nathan K. Mao has its gains and losses, which can be easily found in its translation of humorous style. Based on the theory of functional equivalence, the author of this paper takes the English version of Fortress Besieged as a study case to analyze how to reproduce the original humorous style to the target language readers so that they can understand and appreciate Qian Zhongshu's humorous style in essentially the same manner as the original readers did. As the most direct and intensive embodiment of its language art, several major figures of speech prominent for humorous style are selected as the object of my study.This paper is composed of four chapters. Chapter 1 makes a brief survey on the theories to be involved in the study. Chapter 2 carries out an investigation on the features of Qian Zhongshu's humor and the characteristics of humor in Fortress Besieged .Based on that, Chapter 3, from the aspect of rhetoric, shows how the translators reproduce the unique style of the great literary master. Through analyzing the translated version, the writer proves that while reproducing the style of the original text, the translator should not follow the usually misleading rule of formal correspondence. He should try his best to reproduce the same effect upon the readers of his translation as that upon the readers of the original by following the author's style in a dynamic way. Chapter 4 deals with the limitations in transferring the humorous style caused by linguistics difference and cultural difference; and the conclusion part gives a summary of the paper and proposes some problems to be developed.