A Study On Functional Equivalence In James Legge's English Version Of DaXue

DaXue,one of Four Books,contains rich philosophical significances.Many scholars both at home and abroad have undertaken its translation,therein,the English versions of DaXue and other Chinese Classics translated by the famous British Sinologist James Legge have exerted a far-reaching impact on Western Sinology.There are many different ways to evaluate the quality of a translation.Functional Equivalence theory has been proposed by the famous American translation theorist,Eugene.A.Nida.Its obvious difference from other translation theories lies in that Functional Equivalence emphasizes “reader response”,which takes the comparison between target reader' s response and original reader' s response as one of the important translation evaluation dimensions.Nida advocates Functional Equivalence,he deems the closest natural equivalence should be that the receptors of the message in the receptor language respond substantially in the same manner as the receptors in the source language.At present,there are few studies on the translations of DaXue from the perspective of Functional Equivalence theory,and the study of James Legge' s English version of DaXue is especially rare.The author intends to analyze the English version of DaXue by James Legge in the light of Functional Equivalence theory and explore its functional equivalent features at the lexical,syntactic and rhetorical levels.This thesis is divided into five chapters.Chapter one is the introduction,including five sections: research background and significances,research questions and methodology as well as the thesis structure.Chapter two reviews the previous studies of DaXue and its translations.Chapter three is the theoretical framework,which introduces Functional Equivalence theory and its applicability in the translation of Chinese Classics.Chapter four is the analysis,by employment of qualitative method,there are 97 cases in all analyzed at the three levels.Therein,52 cases have been analyzed at the lexical level including the title of DaXue,phonetic loan characters,culture-loaded terms;18 cases have been analyzed at the syntactic level including elliptical sentences,double negative sentences,rhetorical questions,exclamatory sentences,coordinate sentences;26 cases have been analyzed at the rhetorical level including simile,metaphor,antithesis,parallelism,hyperbole,anadiplosis.Chapter fiveis the conclusion.By doing the research,the thesis finds that the proportion of Functional Equivalence at the lexical level reaches about 82.69%;at the syntactic level,it reaches about 83.33%;at the rhetorical level,it reaches about 80.77%.Furthermore,under the guidance of Functional Equivalence theory,the author summarizes four characteristics of this English version: type1.through formal equivalence in the translation,Functional Equivalence has been reached;type2.there is no formal equivalence in the translation,but Functional Equivalence has been achieved;type3.it is formal equivalence in the translation,but Functional Equivalence has not been fulfilled;type4.mistranslation.Among them,type1 accounts for about 68%,type2 accounts for about 14%,type3 accounts for about 17%,type4 accounts for about 1%.Through the above research data,it can be drawn that proportion of Functional Equivalence in this English version accounts for about 82%.Obviously,the English version of DaXue by James Legge is characterized by the distinct Functional Equivalence,no wonder it is regarded as the classical version in the translation of Chinese Classics to which Legge' s contributions are so remarkable that it marks an epoch in the history of Western Sinology.However,there is no perfect translation,the application of literal translation by Legge and his comprehending deviation result in about 18% of this English version failing to achieve Functional Equivalence,it makes the translation somewhat lengthy in some cases,which reduces the readability and reeks of losing literary color of the original.According to Functional Equivalence theory,content should been given priority over form in translation,Functional equivalence should have precedence over formal equivalence.Therefore,in the translation of Chinese Classics,if there is irreconcilable conflict between form and content,translators should make appropriate adjustments in form,and at the same time,improve their bilingual abilities and use the various translation strategies in a combined way so as to accurately transfer original meaning to the maximum extent.Last but not the least,in the light of Functional Equivalence theory,the author suggests the necessity of retranslating this Confucian Classic-DaXue to further enhance the vitality and competitiveness of Chinese traditional cultures,thereby,it can better facilitate the cultural exchanges between China and the West.