A Comparative Study Of Two Chinese Versions Of To Kill A Mockingbird Under The Functional Equivalence Theory

This thesis analyzes two Chinese versions of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird,from the perspective of the Functional Equivalence Theory of Eugene·A·Nida.These two Chinese versions are translated by Yan Xiangru(from Taiwan),and Gao Hongmei(from Mainland China)respectively.In the novel,Harper Lee emphasized that “everyone is equal” and the truth about forgiveness and anti-bias,which aroused readers to reconsider human nature.Thus,the researches of such book's translation count much.Given that the research has something to do with literary translation,which involves complicate fictional background and culture.Thus,how to picture the characters and strike their features,and how to objectively reflect the culture behind them.After a comparative study,the author of this thesis finds that both Yan Xiangru and Gao Hongmei adopt free translation and literal translation,to represent the original contents.However,they place different emphasis on those two methods.Generally speaking,Yan is particular about free translation,while Gao literal translation.Although Gao's translation highly matches the original work in formation,the language is relatively blunt and lacks consistence.Moreover,it limits the target-language-readers' imagination and hard to visualize the accurate images of the characters.Thereafter,it is difficult to arouse the target-language-readers' feelings as much as the original work does.Nevertheless,Yan prefers using free translation,with more flexible words.Consequently,his translation is more compatible with the whole context and reflects a more vivid and truthful image of the characters' feature and linguistic style.When it comes to the particular words,Yan puts much emphasis on foreignization while Gao on domestication.Then,as for the part of poetry translation,both of them choose to frame the religious poems into Chinese style,to resonate with the target-language-readers.From the experience of analyzing these two Chinese versions,the author of this thesis believes that the translator should focus on dynamic equivalence,which means that the relationship between the target receptor and translated text should be same to that between the source receptor and the original work.Translation does not mean to fulfill a simple semantic conversion,but to transmit the author's intention and mind,and make functional equivalence come to reality.This is of significance in translation practice.