Individual Biography E-C Translation Strategy Under The Principle Of Functional Equivalence

Biography is very popular among non-fiction writing. Individual biography no longer emerges only as one genre, it also reflects culture powerfully, the translation of which is quite challenging since it consists of both literary and non-literary ones. This thesis explores from the perspective of linguistics and culture how to represent the unity of historicity and literariness of the source text in individual biography E-C translation. The methodology employed includes literature review, comparative analysis between source and target languages and cultures, case study, and qualitative analysis.From the exploration of Nida’s functional equivalence theory and the E-C translation of Thomas Jefferson:Author of America, it was found that such theory may guide individual biography E-C translation in achieving its purpose. Biography is characterized by the unity of historicity and literariness. Its nature lies in historicity which refers to authenticity, whereas literariness is mainly displayed by the application of rhetorical devices, among which metaphor is the most frequently applied. The theory emphasizes carrying the correct meaning of the source text by free translation. However, it also advocates the literal translation of figures of speech by adhering to the original form as much as possible to secure its aesthetic appeal. Historicity requires faithfully conveying the original meaning in translation which coincides with the core concept of functional equivalence theory, while literariness demands reproducing the literary feature of the source text, which can be accomplished by translating figures of speech literally.Based on the analysis of the attributes, the distinguishing feature of the text type of an individual biography, and the differences between Chinese and English syntax and culture, it is argued that the unity of historicity and literariness of an individual biography may be reproduced comparatively faithfully by adopting a strategy of "prioritizing’free translation’ with ’literal translation’ and the union of the two as a complement" under the principle of functional equivalence, which may lead to a rendering that reads true, coherent, natural and interesting.