Analysis Of Yang Xianyi And Gladys Yang's Translation Of Chang Sheng Dian From The Perspective Of Functional Equivalence

Based on the theory of functional equivalence, this thesis analyzes the characteristics and demerits of Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang's translation of Chang Sheng Dian from the differences in rhetorical habits and cultures between Chinese and English. Due to the cultural differences, the translators could not transfer the Qupai feature of Kunqu into the target text. Although the target language has corresponding rhetorical devices to the source language, owing to the differences between the Chinese and English structures, the translators can not achieve the absolutely equivalent translation of the source language's rhetorical devices. The translators just manage to reproduce the artistic effect created by the source language's rhetorical devices through the approximate translation to enable the target language readers to understand the intentions and feelings of the author of Chang Sheng Dian. During the translation of the names of books, persons, places and personal pronouns, the translators are not seeking the simple transformation of linguistic signs, but tapping the names'connotations and representing them to clarify the target readers' understanding. However, the translators fail to place enough attention on the words which have connotations, leading to target readers'fuzziness or misconception of the names and allusions. Generally speaking, the translators have successfully achieved functional equivalence, namely, to make the target readers comprehend the target version to the point that the readers of the original text must have understood and appreciated it. Additionally, it is proposed in this paper that the translators should integrate more precise and detailed explanations in the process of transferring cultural factors.