Study On The English Translation Of Zhaohua Xishi By The Yangs

Functionalism came into being in the1970s in Germany, and the functionalist theorists regard source text function, purpose of translation and translation action as their main research subjects. Generally speaking, translation is a purposeful activity in the theory; translation process and strategies are decided by the purpose of translation. At the same time, in the school, the scholars give a detailed description and analysis on the roles of participants in the translation process, and the status of the translator is greatly improved.Christiane Nord, advocator of the second generation in functionalist school, gives a further consideration to the translation-oriented text analysis, including translation brief, a top-down translation process, a feasible model of ST text analysis, etc. on the basis of main ideas of functionalist school. In addition, she further proposes her own principle of "function plus loyalty". Nord’s theory can be applied in such practical translation fields as translator training, interpreting, literary translation, etc., and is of great significance.As the only collection of prose, Zhaoh.ua Xishi is an important work of Lu Hsun. It is actually the writer’s recall of memories in the childhood and youth, and provides us with abundance of local customs and practices as well as social outlook, etc. of the time. The book is also of great value and significance for the research of Lu Hsun’s ideology and life experiences.In the light of Nord’s functionalist approach to translation, this thesis chooses the translation of Zhaohua Xishi by the Yangs as a case study. It tries to illustrate how a translation process is completed, and how the translation model directs the translator in the process of translation, including the strategies and techniques the translator can adopt, and the adaptability of functionalist translation approach into literary translation. At the same time, the author gives an analysis on how the Yangs adopt proper translation strategies to introduce our classic literary works overseas adequately with detailed examples. The thesis demonstrates advantages of Nord’s approach theoretically and practically, and hopes that it can shed some light on the translation of literary prose translation.