ABSTRACT

Text translation is one of the most important subjects in English Translation Studies. Eugene A. Nida’s theory of functional equivalence has already gained wide popularity around the world and made a great impact on translation theories. According to the theory, the ultimate goal of translation is to evoke the same response from its target readers as the source text can from its readers.

Lu Xun’s masterpiece Na Han is deeply loved and widely translated by scholars all around the world. Among lots of versions, the ones by the Yangs and American scholar William Lyell stand out.

In light of Nida’s functional equivalence theory, this paper makes a research on Yangs’ and William Lyell’s translation from two aspects: translators’ style and cultural transmission. After comparing those two versions, this paper achieved some conclusions about translation strategy.

Key Words: Functional Equivalence; Na Han; Style; Culture

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One     INTRODUCTION-1

Chapter Two     LITERATURE REVIEW-2

Chapter Three   THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK-4

Chapter Four   ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH VERSIONS OF NA HAN  FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENCE-6

4.1 Equivalence on the Level of Style-6

4.1.1 Language-6

4.1.1.1 Translation of verbs-6

4.1.1.2 Translation of onomatopoeias-7

4.1.1.3 Translation of adverbs-8

4.1.1.4 Translation of vulgarisms-9

4.1.2 Rhetoric-11

4.1.2.1 Translation of irony-11

4.1.2.2 Translation of parallelism-12

4.2 Equivalence on the Level of cultural connotation-13

4.2.1 Translation of idioms-13

4.2.2 Translation of unique Chinese culture-14

Chapter Five     CONCLUSION-16

WORKS CITED-18