On Zhang Guruo’s Translation Ideas And His Version David Copperfield From The Perspective Of Nida’s Functional Equivalence

The famous translator, Zhang Guruo has always held a unique position in translation field with his idiomatic translation. Gu Zhengkun (Sun Yingchun,2004:15)evaluates that if Zhang Guruo’s translation principle of idiomatic translation for idiomatic original is viewed as a standard for guiding translation, it still remains as a mainstream in literary translation in this specific time. Its ultimate object is to realize the closest equivalence to the original. Professor Sun Yingchun renders that Zhang Guruo’s idiomatic principle requires faithfulness to the original, as well as adopting idiomatic expression in the receptor language. Besides, Zhang Guruo’s insistence in making annotations shows his attention to the readers as well as the transmission of culture. The famous American translation theorist Nida’s functional equivalence points out that translation consists of reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language messege, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. It also emphasizes that the relationship between receptor and message should be substantially the same as that which existed between the original receptor and the message, which is taken as a standard for evaluating translation. Thus Nida’s functional equivalence has much in common with Zhang Guruo’s translation ideas. Both of them emphasize on meaning and naturalness, stress on the response of the reader and pay their attention to culture. This thesis, by analyzing Zhang Guruo’s version David Copperfield, points out that under the guidance of his idiomatic translation, his version has realized the maximum equivalence to the original in terms of meaning, style and culture, thus making the reader get the similar response. To some extent, the realization of idiomatic translation is also a reflection of functional equivalence between the original and the translation. Both Nida’s functional equivalece and Zhang Guruo’s idiomatic idea have contributed a lot to China’s translation theory and practice.