A Functional Discourse Analysis On English Translations Of Taohuayuan Ji

As a distinguished poet and writer of ancient China, Tao Yuanming occupies a very important position in the history of literature at home and abroad for his poetry, prose and academic thoughts. Huge numbers of his translated works are welcomed among the overseas readers, and Taohuayuan Ji, one of the masterpieces of Tao Yuanming, is no exception. Though a lot of researches have been carried out from different perspectives, analysis of its English translations from the perspective of three meta-functions of Systemic Functional Grammar(SFG) is still in short. In order to make a further study on Taohuayuan Ji, this dissertation tries to analyze it from the macro aspect of genre and micro perspective of three meta-functions under the guidance of SFG, hoping to make contribution to translation theories in translating this kind of texts. In all, this dissertation aims at providing a new perspective for understanding and translating Taohuayuan Ji as well as offering a reference in understanding and translating similar generic types.Five chapters are involved in this research. The first chapter gives an introduction to the study, including the rationale, significance, objectives, data and method as well as the organization of the dissertation. The second chapter reviews the studies on the English translations of Taohuayuan Ji and the functional linguistic approach in translation studies both at home and abroad. The third chapter is the theoretical framework, where Systemic Functional Grammar is introduced and theory of Labov’s classical narrative genre model is also presented.Chapter Four will offer the practical analysis of Taohuayuan Ji, which is the most important part of the dissertation. We will analyze the data from the macro level of generic structure and then the micro aspect of three meta-functions: ideational meta-function, interpersonal meta-function and textual meta-function. The fifth chapter is the conclusion of the dissertation, which composes conclusions, implications and suggestions for the further study.Based on the analysis, the tentative findings of this study can be summarized as follows:(1)the macro generic structure of Taohuyuan Ji generally follows the sequence: Orientation ?Complication ? Resolution ? Coda, which is in agreement with the diamond narrative genremodel put forward by Labov.(2) Seen from the perspective of three meta-functions, firstly, as far as ideational meta-function is concerned, material process is the dominant realizational form in the clauses of Complication stage. As for the three translations, material process is also employed as the main form. Secondly, in terms of the interpersonal meta-function, original text mainly adopts declarative mood with few modal operators, and the usage of third person narration makes the tone of narration in the Complication stage objective. Three translated versions rely heavily on declarative mood to deliver the interpersonal meta-function in the Complication stage. Thirdly, seen from the perspective of textual meta-function, Simple Theme with animated color is the main departure of information, and Constant Theme Pattern is considered to be the dominant form of Thematic Progression. As for the three English versions,they also employ themes with animated nature and Constant Theme Pattern. In all, seen from the three meta-functions in SFG, three translated versions generally employ literal translation and faithfully follow the content and form of the original text, achieving its functional equivalence elegantly and coherently.(3) The practical analysis shows that narrative structure has been rooted in the nature of human language for thousands of years. The functional linguistic approach to the study of narrative text helps us have a better understanding of the text,which indicates we should pay attention to the functional linguistic approach in translation studies and that we need to attach more importance to the study of generic structure in our teaching and learning. What’s more, literal translation strategy can be employed in the translation of Chinese classics to achieve his functional equivalence.