Abstract

Functional equivalence theory is the essence of Eugene A. Nida’s translation theory. Since it was introduced into China in the 1980s, heated discussions have been violently aroused among translation scholars in China. The key concept of functional equivalence theory is to seek the closest equivalence between the source language and target language in a natural way and assuring equivalent responses among different readers. Fortress Besieged is a well-received masterpiece by Ch’ien Chung-shu. There is no denying that the enormous refreshing metaphors infuse great vigor into the novel and is an indispensable factor of its popularity. The thesis conducts a study on the metaphor translation mainly from the perspective of functional equivalence and summarizes basic approaches to translate metaphors so as to explore the translatability of metaphors from Chinese to English.

Keywords: Functional Equivalence; Metaphor Translation; Readers’ Responses; The maximal Equivalence; The Minimal Equivalence
 
摘要

功能对等理是翻译家尤金•奈达的翻译理论的核心思想，对整个翻译界产生过巨大的影响。自20世纪80年代功能对等理论被引入我国以来, 便在中国译界引发了激烈的讨论。功能对等理论的核心在于以读者为判断主体实现最高对等或者最低对等。众多令人耳目一新的隐喻表达是《围城》成为一部杰出的讽刺文学著作不可或缺的因素。因此目标读者能否欣赏到原文隐喻的内涵以及文化寓意的原貌很大程度取决于隐喻翻译的优劣。本文主要以功能对等为视角，分析茅国权和珍妮•凯利《围城》中隐喻翻译，总结其中隐喻翻译的基本方法，以此来探讨功能对等在隐喻翻译中的可行性，从而为翻译教学和实践提供指导和借鉴。

关键词：功能对等；隐喻翻译；读者反映论；最高对等；最低对等