On Translation of Metaphors in The Collector from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence Theory 功能对等理论视角下《收藏家》的隐喻翻译研究文献综述

 2021-12-30 08:12

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文献综述

1. Introduction1.1 Research Background Metaphor is a very common linguistic phenomenon and has been heatedly discussed for years. It used to be traditionally regarded as a device of rhetorical decoration. In 1980, Lakoff our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorically in nature (1980: 4). They contend that metaphor is everywhere and exists both our words and our minds, which has tremendously changed peoples understanding of metaphor and opened a new chapter of metaphor history. As the study of metaphor continuously became to be conducted home and aboard, the translation of metaphor has been thriving. Newmark (1988) contends that though the key to translation of a text is the choice of a translated method, the most important and difficult thing is the translation of metaphor. Therefore, a proper metaphor translation has a significant effect on the quality of the text. That makes the study on metaphor translation become a noteworthy issue. In order to make a standard for the conversion between source language and target language, Eugene Nida, a famous translation theorist and linguist, puts forward the famous functional equivalence theory according to the nature of translation. He (1993) points out that translation is to use the most appropriate, natural and equivalency language to reproduce the content of source language from semantics to style. Nida (1964) also puts forward that functional equivalence includes word equivalence, syntactical equivalence, text equivalence and stylistic equivalence, where he takes meaning as a more important part than form since form may probably cover the cultural meaning of source language and hinder the possible cultural communication. It means that when the translator reproduces the connotation of source language, the translation can be regarded as a successful work. Considering that metaphor translation is an essential part of translation, functional equivalence theory can also be applied to it.John Fowles is one of the most well-known novelists of contemporary British literature in the twentieth century. He is elected as the 50 greatest British writers since 1945 by the times. Among a series of his outstanding works, his literary debut The Collector, a thriller novel, has achieved great success and was adapted into an Academy Award-nominated feature film of the same name in 1965. The novel tells a story that a psychotic young man Clegg who kidnaps a female art student Miranda and holds her captive in the cellar of his rural farmhouse. As a master of language, metaphors used in this novel are so culturally specific and have abundant connotations. Therefore, the translation of metaphors is the key to the understanding of the novel. It is translated into Chinese by Li Yao who is a famous translation professor. Therefore, this thesis aims to study the original version and Chinese version of The Collector and analyze metaphor translation from the perspective of functional equivalence theory.1.2 Need of the study Although metaphor is culturally specific and its appreciation depends on readers cognitive environment and its translation attracts more and more attention, current researches are inadequate to provide guidance for translators to deal with the translation of metaphors. This thesis is motivated to study the translation of metaphors from the perspective of functional equivalence theory.Functional equivalence theory provides a new insight into the translation of metaphors. When a translator comes across a metaphorical expression, he has to think about how to successfully reproduce this metaphor in target language text and how to communicate to receptors the same feelings that the original communicator would feel. Therefore, functional equivalence theory can be used as an important perspective to study the translation of metaphors.John Fowles is a prominent writer who won Nobel Prize in 1999. Among others, his maiden novel The Collector fills with literary values, such as abounding in a variety of metaphors. However, it is hard to find systematic studies on the translation of its metaphorical expressions.Therefore, under the framework of the functional equivalence theory, the thesis adopts the methodology of example analysis to illustrate the methods of translating metaphors in The Collector. By means of exploring the approaches and the factors influencing translators choice of metaphor translation approaches, the thesis aims at verifying the explanatory power and the feasibility of functional equivalence theory and summarizing the methods on the translation of metaphors and arousing peoples attention to the study of metaphor translation.1.3 Structure of the thesisThe thesis will consist of four chapters. In the first part, the author of the thesis will make an introduction to the research background, need of the research and the structure of the thesis. In chapter two, literature review of metaphor translation and The Collector and theoretical framework of the present research will be presented. The theoretical framework is going to discuss the formulation and development and principles of functional equivalence theory and Nidas study of translation. Chapter three is the body part of the thesis. It will classify the metaphors into structural metaphors, orientational metaphors and ontological metaphors. Meanwhile the approaches that Li Yao adopts to translate metaphors in The Collector will be illustrated, and the effects that are achieved through the approaches will be stated from the perspective of functional equivalence theory. The last chapter will draw the conclusion of this thesis, covering two sections: major findings of this research and implications for further study on the translation of metaphors in light of functional equivalence theory.2. Literature Review and Theoretical FrameworkThis section includes three primary parts which introduce the studying history of metaphor translation, the overview study of The Collector in China and abroad respectively and Nidas functional equivalence theory.2.1 Previous studies of metaphor translation Though the study of translation and metaphor has been studied deeply, the study of metaphor translation has not been attached great importance. The main reason is that Metaphor itself was not formally established as a translation issue worthy of deeper reflection until the 1970s. Hornby (2001: 55) said scholars agree that metaphor has been sadly neglected in translation theory.It is only in recent decades that the combination of translation and metaphor has been recognized by linguists and translators as an independent branch of the discipline, and has been gaining much attention and academic success (Sun, 2017). Many scholars, such as Dagut, Broeck, Newmark and Hornby have studied metaphor translation from different perspectives. As Lakoff 2) replacing the image in the source language with a standard target language image; 3) translating of metaphor by simile; 4) translating of metaphor (or simile) by simile plus sense; 5) conversing metaphor to sense; 6) modificating metaphor; 7) deleting; 8) reproducing the same image combined with sense (2001: 84-96).Thirdly, Gideon Toury (2001) presented six methods for metaphor translation: 1) translating metaphor to the same metaphor; 2) translating metaphor to the different metaphors; 3) translating metaphor to non-metaphor; 4) translating metaphor to zero; 5) translating non-metaphor to metaphor; 6) translating zero to metaphor.Fourthly, Christina Schaffner (2004) points out that discussion of some implications of a cognitive approach to metaphors for translation theory and practice and the effectiveness of metaphor translation needs to be re-examined.As shown from the above, western scholars have studied metaphor translation mainly in terms of translatability, translation principles, translation methods, etc. They have made important contributions to the further research of metaphor translation. However, scholars still disagree on whether and how to establish a theory of metaphor translation, and sufficient research needs to be done. 2.1.2 Metaphor translation studies in ChinaWith the development of metaphor research, the study of metaphor translation has begun to attract the attention of many scholars in China. China has experienced the similar process. Zhang Meifang (2005) explored the process of metaphor translation based on Bells schematic model and focus on the process of decoding the original text and encoding into a target text. Wu (2019) presents the application of functional equivalence theory in metaphor translation. Zhang (2010) studied the differences of metaphor between English and Chinese from the cognitive linguistics perspective. Lei Tian (2014) has tentatively designed a translation mode of metaphor according to Verschuerens adaptation theory. This mode can help the translator to consider the translation situation holistically and select the best metaphorical translation. Visibly, different theories and perspectives have greatly influenced and guided the study of metaphorical translation, which is beneficial for later scholars to study further.That being said, its research is still in the developing stage. Meanwhile, the number of the study on metaphor translation from the perspective of functional equivalence is very limited. 2.2 Previous studies on The CollectorThe Collector, published in 1963, is the first novel written by John Fowles. The work has made Fowles a dominant public intellectual and a literary celebrity aboard. The reason why it causes a sensation is that Fowles successfully mixes the main elements of a novel into a whole, including blood, sex, crime, and tragedy. After it was adapted into a film, it has become much more popular.2.2.1 Previous studies on The Collector abroadIn foreign countries, scholars mainly use various perspectives to understand the novel, such as existentialism, psychological analysis, feminism and ecofeminism sociological studies. Firstly, Lovelady (1980) stated that Mirandas notes show Fowles existentialist principle that peoples free will must be respected. Secondly, psychological analysis is the most popular perspective of the study of the novel. Through Jungian perspective, Robert Huffaker regarded Clegg as the victim of generations of social inequality (1980: 75). Peter Wolfe (1979) held that better education can avoid the occurrence of kidnapping. Carol Barum analyzed the novel from the perspective of psychological criticism and draws the conclusion that each of Fowless heroes exemplifies the nature of the struggle facing all of us and the pattern we must follow provided that we are to restore the wasteland to the garden (1988: 147). Thirdly, feminism criticism is also an important perspective. Huffaker contended that Fowles creates distinctive female characters who dominate males. (1982: 33). However, Bruce Woodcock believed that Fowles was not technically feminist although he himself claimed that he is a feminist. James Acheson agreed with the opinion that Fowles has denied his sympathy for feminism, though he did show his compassion to women who suffer a subordinate position in a male-dominated world (1998: 3-4). Fourthly, from the perspective of sociological studies, Barry Olshen pointed out briefly that Clegg and Miranda were the products of different living environment, educational inequality and opportunity inequality, and the class contradictions between them were just one of the manifestations of inequality between the mass and the elicit (1978: 26-27).Besides the four perspectives, biography criticism and formal criticism also account for a large proportion in Fowles studies. As shown above, the range of studies on The Collector is very wide and these studies are very thoughtful and helpful to a deeper understanding of the novel.2.2.2 Previous studies on The Collector at homeCompared with studies on The Collector abroad, domestic studies are relatively late for over 20 years. The first Chinese translation was published in 1988, and there are already six Chinese Translations. However, there are not enough studies on The Collector. In 2003, Zhang contended that Mirandas tragic death reveals the evils of a patriarchal society and reflects the authors strong sense of social criticism from the perspective of feminism. Pan (2005) analyzed two antithetical characters in the light of both existentialism and psychoanalytical characterology. Yu explains the dialogue nature emphatically from Bakhtins polyphonic theory. He (2006) thought that freedom and dialogue were the best keywords to summarize the artistic features of the novel. Zhang (2020) dug into meanings and connotations of metaphors from the perspective of conceptual metaphor theory. In conclusion, most studies focus on the existentialism, feminism and artistic feature. However, few studies are concerned about its Chinese translation, let alone metaphor translation. Therefore, this paper will discuss the metaphor translation from the perspective of functional equivalence theory to study the translation methods and promote the better understanding of the novel.2.3 Functional Equivalence TheoryFunctional equivalence theory, as Nidas core translation theory, has a deep influence on the translation field. The core idea of dynamic equivalence is first mentioned in his essay Principles of Translation as Exemplified by Bible Translating where he stated that translating consists in producing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent to the message of the source language, first in meaning and secondly in style (Nida, 1959: 323). In 1964, Nida proposed formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence and gave a definition that formal equivalence which focuses on the form and content of the message itself (Nida, 1964: 197). However, the dynamic equivalence focuses on the principle of equivalence effect. In the year of 1969, in Nidas book The Theory and Practice of Translation, he defined that dynamic equivalence as in terms of the degree to which the receptors of the message in the receptor language respond to it substantially the same manner as the receptors in the source language(1969: 24). It shows that Nida lays much more stress upon readers response rather than the form of the message. He clarifies the goal of dynamic equivalence which is to seek the closest natural equivalence (2001: 91). It means Nidas theory focuses on the dynamic equivalence rather than formal equivalence. Since the expression dynamic can be easily misunderstood as referring to something which has impact, he uses functional equivalence to replace dynamic equivalence to clear up the misunderstanding. In Language and Culture: Contexts in translating, functional equivalent theory is split into two levels - the minimal level and the maximal level. From the minimal level, Nida (2001) points out that the minimal level of functional equivalence is that readers can understand the translated to the extent that they can estimate how the original readers understand it. The maximal level can be regarded as readers of a translated text should be understand and appreciate it in substantially the same manner as the original readers did (Nida, 2001: 136) The maximal level stands for that the target language readers can have a response that is very close to that of original readers.Therefore, the functional equivalence theory takes into account the feelings of the target language audience, and the translator should also take into account the needs of the audience in the translation process instead of limiting to the language structure of the original text, especially the sentence structure. Only in this way can the translation be more fluent and helpful to the target language audience. In summary, it is easy to find that the core of Nidas functional equivalence theory is that the source language message is not only clear, but also can be accurately conveyed to the audience by the translator after translation, and the target language audience can receive it to the same extent as the source language audience.2.4 Summary Throughout the history of Chinese and western metaphor research, both China and the West have similarly achieved remarkable results while building different theoretical systems. However, current researches are inadequate to provide guidance for translators to deal with the translation of metaphors. Meanwhile though functional equivalence theory can offer an important perspective to study metaphor translation, there are limited studies on metaphor translation from the perspective of it. This paper aims to take examples of metaphors in The collector as examples and study the approaches of translating metaphors based on functional equivalence theory. 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