Translation is a kind of cross-cultural communicative activity,which not only needs much practice but also guiding theoretical principles. There is no exception to legal translation.Among the translation theories put forward by translation studies scholars all over the world,Eugene A. Nida's functional equivalence theory is justified as the theoretical basis to legal translation in this thesis.For the primary standard of legal translation is that translated versions should realize functional equivalence with source texts.However,Nida does not discuss how to apply the theory to legal translation.By analyzing typical examples,the thesis believes that the ultimate goal of legal translation should be the functional equivalence between original legal texts and their versions, which could be realized by adopting a concrete and practical translation strategy---the dialectic unity of conventionality and flexibility.Based on Nida's functional equivalence theory and the similarities and dissimilarities of Chinese and English legal languages,the thesis systematically explores how to translate Chinese legal texts into English under the functional equivalence theory by taking Real Right Law of the People's Republic of China as the study object.Where the two legal languages share similar linguistic and stylistic features in lexical, syntactic and textual layers,translators should complete translation tasks under certain conventional rules;where they differ in such aspects,they should not be fettered by originals but give a full display to their subjective creativity and adopt flexible strategies to make target texts functionally equivalent with originals.The thesis falls into five parts,including introduction,body and conclusion.The first part introduces the research background and significance, the Real Right Law of the People's Republic of China and the importance of its C-E translation.Chapter One starts with an overview of the general translation theories to legal translation.Then,the author states the reason why functional equivalence theory is applicable to legal translation and puts forward his concrete translation strategy---the dialectic unity of conventionality and flexibility.Chapter Two deals with the similarities and differences between legal Chinese and legal English from lexical,syntactic to textual layers, laying a foundation for the application of the above translation strategy.Chapter Three examines the functional equivalence theory's application in the English versions of the Real Right Law.First,the author comments on the successful places of the English version of the Law and confirms the value of the conventionality,on the other hand,the author points out the improper translations,which is modified and improved according to the flexible translation strategies.The fifth part is the conclusion of the thesis.
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