Translation Strategy Of Passive Voices In Psychological Text Based On The Theory Of Metafunctions ——A Report On The English-Chinese Translation Of The Maternal Experience:Encounters With Ambivalence And Love

The theory of metafunctions is an essential part of the systemic functional linguistics.The theory lays emphasis on applying language in a context,which is inspiring and helpful for translators.Translators should keep a close eye on the metafunctions of the original text to guarantee an accurate translation in the translation practice.This report is based upon the English-Chinese translation practice of The Maternal Experience:Encounters with Ambivalence and Love written by the Australian psychotherapist Margo Lowy.The translation of frequently used passive sentences becomes the biggest obstacle in translating the book.Therefore,the report mainly concentrates on the Chinese translation of the English passive sentences based on the theory of metafunctions.According to Halliday,all languages have ideational,interpersonal,and textual metafunctions.The ideational function represents the processes and states of the world.The interpersonal function reflects the speaker’s relationships.The textual function is concerned with the structure and transformation of information.Based on the theory of metafunctions,the passive sentences in the original text are analyzed from the perspectives of ideational,interpersonal,and textual functions.Correspondingly,possible strategies for translating the English passive voices in this psychological text are explored to realize the functions of the original text.Based on Hallidayan theory of metafunctions and the translation project,the major translation strategies for passive voices are summarized as follows:There are three strategies for translating English passive voices into Chinese active constructions:1)translating English passive voices into Chinese active sentences with the original agent as the subject;2)translating English passive voices into Chinese non-subject sentences;3)translating English passive voices into Chinese active sentences with the adverbial as the subject.These strategies help the translation to achieve textual cohesion,to show the author’s objectivity,and to focus on the topic.Second,there are two strategies for translating English passive sentences into Chinese passive structures:1)translating English passive sentences into Chinese marked passive sentences;2)translating into Chinese unmarked passive sentences.These strategies can attract readers’ attention and improve semantic coherence in the translation.It is hoped that the report could be useful for practising translators of the psychological texts and alike.