An Analysis Of The Translations Of The Vagina Monologues-From The Perspective Of Systemic Functional Grammar

"Translation equivalence" is a significant concept in the process of translation,especially in the literature translation.In the literature translation,some people insist on literal translation, whereas others prefer free translation.It is important for the translator to seek a balance between the two extremes since texts of different genres require different types of translation strategies and different degrees of the "translation equivalence".The present thesis is seeking this balance by taking the two translated versions of The Vagina Monologues,a drama with the sensitive topic "vagina",as the research data.The research is carried out within the framework of Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar.Drama is different from other literary genres in that it is primarily used to perform on the stage,and the audience is a direct and indispensable participant.So in translating the texts of such a special genre,the first thing the translator needs to consider is the "acceptability" of the audience in the target culture.He has to make a choice between what is to be selected and what is to be omitted of the original text,in other words,he has to choose the appropriate parts of the source text to translate for the audience in the target culture.The three variables of the register are Field,Mode and Tenor.Field is associated with the Ideational metafucntion,which is embodied in the transitivity system and the diction;Mode is associated with the Textual metafunction,which is embodied in the Theme system;and Tenor is associated with the Interpersonal metafunction,which is embodied in the mood and modality system.Therefore,the transitivity process distribution and the diction,the modality pattern and the thematic pattern are the vanes of the Field equivalence,Mode equivalence and Tenor equivalence,respectively.Taking Systemic Functional Grammar as the theoretical framework of the present research, the thesis makes an analysis of the translations of The Vagina Monologues,and gets the following tentative conclusions.The unique social purpose of the "drama-concerning-sensitive topics" genre is to arouse the resonance of the audience and that constitutes the reason why the Interpersonal metafunction plays a dominating role in achieving contextual equivalence between source text and target text compared with the other two metafunctions.In terms of the Field equivalence,it may be achieved by preserving the original choice of the transitivity process distribution and the original choice of the diction,but it often happens that the translator may change certain diction or a particular process type.In this condition,the criterion of the evaluation of the translation quality has to be upgraded to the equivalence on a higher level of the context of culture:the equivalence of the social purposes.As long as the equivalence of the social purposes between source text and target text is achieved,some trivial changes in the processes or dictions are acceptable.The Mode equivalence is similar to the Field equivalence,which can also be achieved either by preserving or altering the original thematic pattern on the premise that the equivalence of the social purposes is achieved.Finally,the Tenor equivalence is rather distinct from the Field equivalence and the Mode equivalence.It can only be achieved by preserving the original modality pattern since any trivial change in the translation may lead to disparate reactions and feelings of the audience in the target culture.It is hoped that the findings of the current research work can help both teachers and students in their translation studies.