Abstract

This thesis is based on the studies of A Dream of Red Mansions and many current motivation theories. A Dream of Red Mansions is considered to be the most classical literary achievements of Chinese novels, and is the peak work in Chinese novel creation. The translation of A Dream of Red Mansions is endless at home and abroad. And the most famous versions are written by scholar David Hawkes and our translators Yang Xianyi and his wife. However, due to the impact of two different cultures, there are always affective neglect and lack of understanding in the translation work, which leads to affective loss in the process of translation. Eugene Nida, a famous translator and linguist, put forward Functional Equivalence Theory. This theory emphasizes the translation with the original to achieve functional equivalence, and reemerge the original context in vocabulary, grammar, semantics, discourse and cultural context with the most natural equivalent. This paper explores the loss of affective meaning in the process of translation in A Dream of Red Mansions from the perspective of functional equivalence theory.

Keywords: Functional Equivalence Theory; affective loss; A Dream of Red Mansions

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-1

2.1 A Brief Introduction of  Functional Equivalence Theory-3

2.2 The Steps of Functional Equivalence Theory-4

3. A Contrastive Study on the Loss of Affective Meaning in Two Versions of “A Raid on Prospect Garden” from Functional Equivalence Theory-5

3.1 Introduction to affective meaning in “A Raid on Prospect Garden”-6

3.2 The analysis of the loss of affective meaning in Yang’s translation-7

3.3 The analysis of the loss of affective meaning in Hawkes’s translation-9

4. Conclusion-10

Works Cited-12