Functional Theory Applied In Dialogue Translation

The thesis takes Halliday's interpersonal function as the framework to make a comprehensive study on Jia Pingwa's novel Fu Zao and its English version Turbulence translated by Goldblatt. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the application of interpersonal functional approach in dialogue translation in a novel.Firstly, the thesis elaborates the connotations and extensions of interpersonal function. It notices that register corresponds with the three metafunctions. Register, proposed by Halliday, is made up of field, tenor, and mode. Tenor is a corresponding contextual factor which determines the dialogues'interpersonal function and language choices. The metafunctions and register combined can be used to test a translated work's quality. Since interpersonal function mainly concerns the speaker's attitude, status, motivation and the roles'relationships, the thesis will take these points into consideration and explore the practicability of interpersonal function in dialogue translation.Secondly, Chinese and English have different linguistic devices to realize the interpersonal meanings, which bring challenges to the interpersonal meaning translation. The thesis compares the similarities and the differences of the two languages to explore how interpersonal meaning is realized in the translation of dialogues from the aspects of mood, modality and appraisal system. Fu Zao, written by Jia Pingwa, depicts normal peasants'life in rural area. Language used in the novel is close to real life and easy to be understood. People's characters and relations are implicated in the dialogue. After analyzing, we find that in most cases, the translator maintains the original interpersonal meanings and represents the original flavor vividly in Turbulence. However, some losses still exist.Finally, the author concludes the fruits and weaknesses of the paper, hoping they're useful for further translation practice.