A Comparative Study Of Interpersonal Function Construction In Two English Versions Of Hongloumeng

Systemic Functional Linguistics (shortened as SFL hereafter) represented byHallliday interprets language as a social-semiotic system realized by threemeta-functions: ideational, interpersonal and textual. Ideational function, composed ofexperimental function and logical function, is concerned with expressing experiencesin mental and material worlds. Textual function deals with how to combine thelinguistic units into a discourse. Interpersonal function realized by the modalitysystem concerns the interactional relationship of the speakers, and it also expressesthe speaker’s attitude, motivation and judgment and is realized by the mood system.Halliday’s model of SFL brings far-reaching influence to translation studies andFunctional theories of translation come into being, which are proposed by House,Baker, Hatim and Mason. Previous studies focus on the translation of ideational andtextual functions and pay little attention to the specific and systemic translation of theinterpersonal function. Domestically, the introduction and research concerning SFL isthriving. Huang Guowen, Zhang Meifang, Li Fagen and Zheng Yuanhui are devotedto the study of interpersonal function. Generally speaking, the study of the translationof interpersonal function undergoes the period of unsatisfying one-sided aspect orrepresentation of interpersonal function and gradually develops into a specific,systemic and overall model.According to the interpersonal function, translation is a process in which thetranslator not only constructs the interpersonal function in the target text but alsoestablishes a platform for the communication between the source text writer and targetreaders. Based on SFL, the present thesis compares the differences and similarities ofChinese and English expressions which convey interpersonal function. A comparativestudy of the construction of interpersonal function is carried out in Yang’s andHawkes’ versions of Hongloumeng.By and large, Yang is more faithful to the original text and manifests theinterpersonal function in an implicit way with no more elaboration. Yang adopts more the foreignizing method and his use of English tenses and modal expressions is lessaccurate than Hawkes’. Although Hawkes mistranslates some Chinese descriptions,he makes a comprehensive utilization of the resources pertinent to mood and modalityin English with more illustration of expressions concerning Chinese yuqi. He succeedsin constructing the interpersonal function in an explicit and lifelike manner. Moreover,pronouns, verbs, non-verbal behaviors, Chinese specific images, vocatives, allusionsand tenses in the original are important in constructing interpersonal function. Therebuilding of interpersonal function across languages and cultures should attachimportance to both linguistic and non-linguistic elements.It is expected that the thesis could broaden the range of the study of interpersonalfunction and does a little contribution to form a systemic theoretic model of thetranslation of interpersonal function.