A Comparative Study Of The Mayor Of Casterbridge

In light of Nida's "functional equivalence", this thesis makes a comparative study of corresponding extracts from two Chinese versions of Mayor of Casterbridge. The aim is to find approaches which will lead to the closest natural equivalence in the target language. On the basis of this, the paper further illustrates the significance of re-translation and proves again that there is no perfect translation of any text. By comparing the two Chinese versions, this paper reveals the sameness and differences of them to identify which is better.This thesis falls into four parts. The first part gives a brief introduction to Nida's theory of "functional equivalence" and its application in literary translation. The second deals with the introduction of Mayor of Casterbridge,its author and the two Chinese versions. The third part, which is the main body of the thesis, offers a detailed comparison between two Chinese versions to show the message in the source language reproduced in the receptor language in terms of meaning, style and culture. The fourth one summarizes some problems including imperfect translation, incorrect translation and the missed translation in the two versions abiding by Nida's theory of "functional equivalence", and the writer of this thesis offers a tentative translation.From the comparative study, the following conclusion has been drawn:To achieve functional equivalence in meaning, the translator must take full account of all aspects such as lexicon, syntax and context; the translator should try his best to transfer the stylistic features of the original work to allow his readers to enjoy the identical, or at least similar, aesthetic experience as the readers of the original; translation is not only the transference from one language to another, but also the communication and transplant of two different cultures, a translator has to deal cope with culture element in source language for the purpose of looking for the laws of linguistic forms in transferring languages. And then, the translator can reach the level of the closest and natural"functional equivalence".