| Sharing a close relationship with language,viewpoint pervades every corner of language use.By choosing his stance and then the form and content,a speaker or a writer conveys not only the discoursal information,but also his viewpoint.Traditionally relevant disciplines concerning viewpoint are primarily narratology,syntax,cognitive linguistics,pragmatics,stylistics,discourse analysis and translation,etc.Researchers of these disciplines focus on diverse linguistic perspectives of viewpoint.Yet research work concerning viewpoint in translation within systemic functional linguistic theoretical frame are comparatively few.Systemic functional linguistics as a general and applicable linguistics,taking language as social semiotic(Halliday 1978),is concerned with man and society,language form and function,language use and context.It also has a special concern with the realization of language function in the lexico-grammatical strata and textual strata,and it further argues that meaning is choice.Therefore,it will be a beneficial attempt to apply theories and research methods of systemic functional linguistics to the systematic study of viewpoint in translation.In the process of introducing and transmitting Chinese culture to the west,many Chinese classics were translated into western languages.Among them,Tao Te Qing was translated for the most times,and has over 160 versions in English alone.However,these various versions of translations differ a lot from one another in diction,meaning conveyance and text organization.Comparing to the original version,some even goes too far and thus beyond the comprehension of target readers.This diversity in translation most probably attributes to the translators' differences in interpreting the original,or their ideology,translation motive and perspectives.Furthermore,the translation theories and strategies they applied,their target language competence and habit may also have an influence.The time a translator is determined to engage in translation,his subjectivity will inevitably be involved in it.Because his reading and understanding of the original is personal and subjective,his choices and applications of language,methods and strategies in translation are all subjective.The whole process of translation is subjective,and consequently the translator's viewpoint is embedded in the translated version.Therefore,it is worthwhile to do a research concerning the interrelationship between viewpoint and translation.This dissertation investigates viewpoint in translation by applying systematic functional linguistic theories and approaches.The data are taken from two English versions of the Chinese classic Tao Te Ching translated respectively by Arthur Waley and Gu Zhengkun.Questions under research include:(1)How is viewpoint involved in translation,and what factors influence of the involvement?(2)How does viewpoint influence and determine the choice of language and strategy in translation?(3)What features and regularities are displayed by the linguistic means of expressing viewpoint which convey subjectivity and intersubjectivity in various strata?To answer these questions,it is supposed that translators first of all must have an impulse to translate and then take actions.In translation whatever linguistic measures they take will express their personal viewpoint.The research methods employed in this dissertation include:(1)a literature approach,which collects and reviews references related to viewpoint and translation and their relationship,and discusses the realization and features of viewpoint in translation via systemic functional theories;(2)a corpus-assisted approach,which analyses the translation text from Tao Te Ching;(3)a quantitative approach,which does a statistical analysis of the data from a limited and controllable corpus of the beginning nine chapters of Tao Te Ching;(4)a comparative text analysis approach,which analyses the text of the two translations by means of systemic functional theories.Corresponding to the above-mentioned three research questions,a comparative analysis of the two translated versions of Tao Te Ching was conducted and then the following conclusions were drawn:Firstly,the primary cause of involvement of viewpoint is the translator's speech act.A translator in cultural context is a body with subjective thought and feeling.His cognition and activity are also subjective.Translator being the subject and carrier of subjectivity and viewpoint,as long as he engages in translation,viewpoint is necessarily involved in translation through the translator's personal cognitive and translating activities.To be more precise,this involvement is attained by means of the translator's interpretation of the source text,choice of the function or meaning realized by the form of the source text,the transformation of the chosen function into the target text and the choice of target language form re-realizing the chosen function in the translation.Corresponding to the metafunctions of language,there are also three means of viewpoint involvement: the realizational systems of ideational function—transitive system,voice system,logic-semantic system and ideational metaphor;the realizational systems of interpersonal function—mood system,modal system,appraisal system and interpersonal metaphor;and the realizational systems of textual function—thematic structure,information structure,cohesion and coherence.The first and foremost influential factor of viewpoint involvement is the translator and author;the second is the target language and target text which will influence the potential and expressing resources of viewpoint;the third is the situational and cultural context in which translation occurs.Second,viewpoint influences and determines language choice and translation strategies by choosing the realizational systems of three metafunctions of language.To be involved in translation language,viewpoint has first of all to put on a linguistic coat.In accordance with the theoretical frame of this study,the structural systems which realize the three metafunctions of language can also realize viewpoint.In other words,the means which viewpoint applies to the language choice include the systems of transitivity,voice,logic-semantics and ideational metaphor which realize ideational metafunction;the systems of mood,modality,appraisal and interpersonal metaphor which realize interpersonal metafunction;and thematic structure,information structure,cohesive devices which realize textual metafunction.The influence of viewpoint on strategy choice and language choice is both direct and indirect,evident and profound.The translator's viewpoint may help him to firstly find a theory and then a strategy.The strategy chosen may further assist him to choose lexis and grammar in translation.Viewpoint taken and formed in interpreting the source text and in the practice of translation will also play a role and determines the choice of strategy and language in translation.Third,the linguistic expressing means of viewpoint include lexico-grammar,textual structure,phonetics-phonology and punctuation.Viewpoint of a translator and translating language is pervasive in texts of translation.It is closely relevant to many factors such as the translator's subjectivity,translation perspective,ideology,and translation strategy.The viewpoint-expressing systems in language coincide with that of realizing the metafunctions of language.They are multilayered and multidimensional.The fact that different translators may translate the same source text into different target text attributes to the translator's viewpoint and other factors mentioned above.Subjectivity goes all the way through the realizational systems of the three metafunctions of language.Meanwhile intersubjectivity is mainly embodied in model system and appraisal system which realize interpersonal and textural function.The purpose of intersubjectivity is to present the translator's attitudinal negotiation and emotional consideration.The current study indicates that viewpoint is a pervasive phenomenon in language.As a special genre,translation more often than not embodies the viewpoints of both the translator and the author,which in turn reflects the translator's choice of translation strategies and lexicogrammar.This study has thus demonstrated an innovative application of systemic functional linguistics on translation studies,which is also expected to be illuminating for the translation of classical Chinese works. |
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