Transferring Interpersonal Meaning Between English And Chinese In Pride And Prejudice

Translation, as an interlingual and intercultural act of communication, is a conversion and reconstruction of interpersonal meaning, which is based on the author and the target readers. This paper selects typical dialogues in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice for case study, and conducts a contrastive research of two Chinese versions proceeding from the perspective of register analysis. The author argues that register analysis can be adopted as an effective instrument for the critical evaluation of translated work and suggests that it can be applied to translation teaching and research as well.SFL is regarded as one of social semiotic systems. In terms of SFL, the functions of language may be categorized into three metafunctions: the ideational function, the interpersonal function and the textual function. According to functional grammar, meaning can be thoroughly decoded by functional analysis, which provides an ideal method for understanding the source language as well as for comparison between the original and the target. The former is a prerequisite for a good translation and the latter is the guarantee for an objective assessment of the translation.As far as the interpersonal meaning is concerned, as intercultural communication, translation is not merely the reproduction or representation of the source text as the traditional studies prescribe, rather, it is the construction of a new interpersonal meaning involving new participants of interaction, the author and the target readers. Within this framework, this thesis attempts to explore the condition and process of the construction in terms of three subsystems: mood, modality and appraisal, with consideration of the subjective factors involved in translation.One of the major purposes of linguistic interaction is to establish and maintain a desirable interpersonal relationship. If the production and reading of the source text realizes interactive event between the author and the reader, then the translation realizes a cross-cultural communication between them, in which process, the translator plays a very complicated role. He can either function as the mediator between them, or work to realize his subjectivity or personal motivation through the mediation between the two parties, or strike a balance between them.Dialogue in novels not only serves to develop the plot and to introduce objective circumstances, but also plays a crucial role in characterization and theme projection. Despite its vital importance, dialogue in novels has not received due attention in the previous translation studies. Highly individualized dialogic language is determined by various elements, which are precisely in close relation with the three variables, namely, field, mode and tenor of register, which is a language variety when in use.When it comes to the translation of dialogue in novels, if we carry out register analysis, and pinpoint the exact features of the dialogic language, we shall have a better interpretation of the original work, and then locate the appropriate counterpart in the target language. In this way, we can assign the proper tone to a particular character, reproducing the individuality of his language, revealing the original characteristics and recreating the image.As a whole, this thesis provides a functional approach to translation studies. But it does not attempt to cover all translation issues once and for all. It just provides a framework for this kind of translation studies. It is expected that a more detailed study be conducted within the framework of systemic functional linguistics.