On The Translation Of Children’s Literature From The Perspective Of Nida’s Functional Equivalence Theory

Functional equivalence theory is one of the key translation theories of Eugene A. Nida and has a great influence on Chinese translation theorists. This thesis is aimed at studying the significance of functional equivalence theory in evaluating and guiding the translation of children’s literature. Functional equivalence theory indicates that the translator should not be confined by the initial form, but can make necessary alterations on the structure and form to achieve equivalence in messages. To Nida, the degree and effect the target readers’understand the translation are especially important, and the ideal translation is that the readers of the target text can understand and appreciate it basically the same as the original readers do.The particular physiological and psychological characteristics of children readers require translators to adjust the original structure and use understandable, and lively language, so that the target children readers experience the same feeling as the source children readers do. Charlotte’s Web, written by an American writer E. B. White, is loved by children as well as adults all over the world and enjoys extremely high reputation in world children’s literature. In this thesis, Kang Xin’s version and Ren Rongrong’s version are chosen, which are produced in different times. Considering the features of children and children’s literature and based on functional equivalence theory, the author makes a comparative analysis of the two versions of Charlotte’s Web from three aspects:meaning equivalence, stylistic equivalence and cultural equivalence. On the basis of it, it tries to illustrate how the two translators realize the closest natural equivalence to the original text and testify the feasibility of functional equivalence theory in guiding the translation of children’s literature.This study significantly displays both theoretical and practical value. Theoretically, the comparative analysis of two Chinese versions of Charlotte’s Web proves the feasibility of functional equivalence theory as a guidance and criterion for the translation of children’s literature. Practically, the comparative study of the two Chinese versions of Charlotte’s Web based on specificity of children readers and children’s literature can provide some references and suggestions for translators in how to achieve functional equivalence when translating children’s literature and thus they can produce more excellent works easily understood and accepted by children. In a word, it is expected that this research is theoretically helpful to translators of children’s literature, and that researchers can pay more attention to functional equivalence theory in guiding children’s literature translation.