Two Chinese Versions Of Gulliver's Travels Compared: A Perspective Of Functional Equivalence

Gulliver's Travels is the immortal work of Jonathan Swift, which has not lost its significance even in the present and can be justly ranked among the best novels of world literature. This novel contains almost all the skills and devices (techniques) used in his satirical prose and verse and thus have an outstanding style. This thesis offers a systematic comparative study of two Chinese versions of Gulliver's Travels in light of Nida's theory of functional equivalence with the purpose to prove the practicality of the theory in literary translation and to probe suitable ways of applying translation theories to translation practice.Nida's functional equivalence theory was introduced into China in the 1980's. Compared with previous translation theories, the theory of functional equivalence shifts the focus in translation from the verbal correspondence in languages to the relationship between the message and receptors, claiming that the purpose of translation is to ensure that the receptors respond to the target language message with substantially the same manner as the source language receptors do to the original, thus forming a new criterion of translation criticism. However, in recent years, more and more scholars have expressed doubts about its scope of application and attitude in the translation field has changed from early total acceptance to much criticism and occasionally even total refusal in the present. Therefore, studies on the validity of the functional equivalence theory for translation, especially for literary translation are of great significance in building a system of translation theories adapted to the Chinese cultural tradition and in guiding translation practice.This thesis first makes an introduction to its definition and relative notions and displays the important role of the theory in the translation field, and then makes a systematic comparative study of the two Chinese versions of Gulliver's Travels, first in terms of meaning and second in terms of style, thus proves usefulness of the theory in literary translation.The author of this thesis holds that functional equivalence has validity for literary works. A translation can be regarded as a good translation if it achieves functional equivalence in terms of meaning and style. In order to achieve functional equivalence, a translator should thoroughly comprehend the original text and take such contextual meanings as connotative meaning, collocative meaning, affective meaning, grammatical meaning and cultural meaning into consideration instead of only the literal meaning, and in this way, first achieve semantic equivalence. Then, he/she should try his or her best to grasp the original stylistics, make proper adjustments in language forms and transfer the original deviations in style properly, thus achieving stylistic equivalence.