功能对等视角下对《邓小平文选》翻译研究_英语论文

A Study of C-E Translation Of Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence Theory

摘要

在功能对等理论的支持下，本文着重分析了《邓小平文选（第三卷）》在词汇、句型和语篇意义上翻译的主要方法，在经过对比分析研究后，《邓小平文选（第三卷）》（以下简称《文选》）汉语本与英译本的主要差异在于：

①词汇上，汉语常用四字词语、成语，而英文中不一定有相应表达；一些具有中国特色与时代意义的字、词，在英文中难以找到对应词汇，而政治文献又有特殊性，其翻译过程中对词汇的选择要求严格。

②句型上，汉语一贯为主题句，而英语为主语句。在《文选》中出现的大量无主语“中国化”句型，而英译本转化成主语句时采用了多种句型。

③语篇意义上，在时代因素、文化因素与作者写作风格的影响下，《文选》汉语本包含与当前常用表达习惯不同的内容，在翻译过程中，需要转化成常用的表达方式。

本文在功能对等理论的指导下，着重分析了《文选》在具有中国特色的词汇、句型和语义上的具体翻译方法，尝试为经典政治文献的翻译找到可作参考的标准。

关键词：功能对等理论；政治文献；词汇选择；句子型式；翻译方法

Abstract

The thesis is focused on the lexical, syntactic and semantic analysis about the C-E translation methods of Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping(vol.3) with the support of Functional Equivalence Theory. After comparing and analyzing the original and the translated version, the author finds that the main differences are as followed:

①Lexically, four-word idioms and set phrases are frequently used in Chinese, while it can be difficult to find words and phrases of the same meaning in English. Some Chinese-characterized words contain concepts that are hardly seen in English. Besides, political works has its own feature, which results in the strict choices in terms of words in the process of translation. 

②Syntactically, in Chinese the topic of a sentence is the most vital element, yet in English, the subject is the most important element. In Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping(vol.3), a number of topic-centered “Chinese-style” sentences appear, which have been transformed into subject-centered sentences in the English version. 

③Textually, because of the influence of time, culture and the writing style of the author, some contents in Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping(vol.3) has adopted uncommon expression. In the process of translating, the translators need to transform these contents into common-used expression.

The thesis aims at analyzing the specific methods of translating Chinese-characterized words and sentences, and summarizing the methodology for translating political scripts of this kind. The author of this thesis tries to find out a possible standard to refer to for the translation of classical political works of this kind.

Keywords: functional equivalence theory, political propaganda, proper wording, sentence pattern, translation methods

Contents

摘 要 III

Abstract IV

Acknowledgements V

Chapter One  Introduction 3

1.1 Background of the Study 3

1.2 Objective and Significance of the Study 4

1.3 Structure of the Thesis 5

Chapter Two   Literature Review 7

2.1 Eugene Nida and Functional Equivalence Theory 7

2.2 Political Equivalence Theory 8

2.3 Influential factors in the translation process of Selected Works III 10

Chapter Three  Analysis 11

3.1 Three Major Factors Affecting the Translation of Selected Works III 11

3.1.1 The Nature and Purposes of Selected Works III 11

3.1.2 The Features of Time 12

3.1.3 The Type of Audience 12

3.2. Linguistic Features of the Original Text 13

3.2.1 Lexical Features 13

3.2.2 Syntactic Features 14

3.2.3 Textual Features 15

3.3 Application of Functional Equivalence Theory to the Translation Process of Selected Works III 16

3.3.1 Application on Lexical Level 16

3.3.2 Application on Syntactic Level 18

3.3.3 Application on Textual Level 20

Chapter Four  Conclusion 22

4.1 Major Findings 22

4.2 Limitations 23

References 24