On C-E Prose Translation Methods

Prose is an important literature genre along with poetry,fiction and drama,which exhibits less-restricted writing form and sincere emotional expression.It is the work of art rich in personality,wisdom and literary charm.Its elegant language and profound thought not only greatly satisfy people’s demand for aesthetic appreciation,but also reflect cultural connotations;therefore prose translation study is of great significance.This thesis is based on the translation of the third chapter of Skins,a prose collection written by contemporary writer Cai Chongda.The original prose work consists of a series of tragic yet warm stories that took place against the backdrop of the development of a fishing town in southern Fujian.On the lexical level,culture-loaded words which reflect local culture and customs in southern Fujian deserve close attention.On the syntactic level,long sentences and parenthesis abound with loose logic and complex structures,which makes it necessary to clarify the logic between the sentences in translation.With these considerations,the thesis draws on Nida’s functional equivalence theory as the guidance for the translation practice.The theory helps to analyze linguistic differences and the contextual meanings of the source text,and it ensures that the translation conforms to the target language norms.The thesis employs a variety of translation methods to overcome difficulties as related to culture-loaded words and complicated sentences in the source text.Through these methods,the translation has achieved functional equivalence to a great extent.Specifically,during the translation of culture-loaded words,the thesis employs methods of literal translation,free translation and annotation so that the target text can be easily understood by target language readers;while during the translation of complicated sentences,the thesis adopts methods of division and sentence restructuring to fully convey the meaning of the source text.These methods prove constructive in the translation practice.It is hoped that this study may help enrich functional equivalence theory on a practical level and shed light on further studies in prose translation.