The Translation Practice Report Of Documentary Literature From The Perspective Of Functional Equivalence Theory

This is a translation practice report based on the documentary fiction In the Kingdom of Ice, written by American writer Hampton Sides. It is combined with Functional Equivalence Theory of Eugene Nida and the first chapter of this text was translated into Chinese. Characterized by Gothic writing style and fascinating plot, this fiction introduces the natural geographical environment and cultural environment about the North Pole. It narrates a true story that happened in the Gilded Age at the end of 19th century, when the USS Jeannette had a terrible polar voyage after encountering a series of obstruction and the crew were forced to abandon the ship and spared no effort to survive. The thesis is aimed at providing some help and references for the documentary literature by translating materials about natural and cultural environment involved in the text.Because the dual characteristics of documentary and novel of the text, and the varied culture differences between English and Chinese, annotation that is related to culture and historical background in the text is adopted. In order to make the target language reader understand the source text better, annotation can provide historical background information in the target language. In addition, in order to cope with the translation difficulties, some strategies or skills are adopted, such as conversion, amplification, etc, among which, the translation of long sentences is the key and difficult part, which should be accomplished under the guidance of Functional Equivalence Theory. On the basis of being faithful to the source text and targeting the reader-oriented, the translation applicability is analyzed through some specific cases from the documentary fiction under the guidance of Functional Equivalence Theory.Through the translation practice, it is realized that it is necessary for a translator to build a solid linguistic foundation if he or she wants to get an excellent translated version. Meanwhile, only when we get a profound understanding of the historical background of the source text, and target the language reader-oriented, and fully integrating the translation strategies and skills, can we reach the similar effect between source language reader and target language reader. Last but not the least, in order to avoid some unnecessary mistakes and make sure the quality of translation, it is necessary to revise the translation carefully and measure or weigh the words repeatedly.