On English-Chinese Translation Of Nonfiction From The Perspective Of Functional Equivalence

It is the common goal of many translators to achieve "equivalence" in practice. In 1964 Eugene A. Nida distinguished two types of equivalence:"dynamic equivalence" and "formal equivalence"; in 1969 he defined the former "in terms of the degree to which the receptors of the message in the receptor language respond to it in substantially the same manner as the receptors in the source language". In 1986 he further develops "functional equivalence", which stressed the communicative functions of translating, and superseded the earlier "dynamic equivalence". Functional equivalence includes four parts, namely, the equivalence of lexical, syntax, texture and style among which meaning takes first priority and then comes the style. When choices have to be made between content and form, Nida considers that correspondence in meaning must have priority over correspondence in style.By comparing the source and target texts of No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban and the War Through Afghan Eyes by American journalist Anand Gopal, the current author found that literal translation has, in most cases, proved effective in preserving message and form of source text. However, some sentences must be converted with more flexible strategies as literal translation may lead to information loss or confusion. After thorough contextual analysis and background research, the author applied four techniques in dealing with those sentences:annotation; amplification; explicitation; and substitution. Meanwhile, the author found that translators should stay objective and cautious in achieving "functional equivalence" so as to minimize overtranslation. The author hopes this case analysis could provide practical methods of applying "functional equivalence" theory and give suggestions to other news translation practices.