A Comparative Study Of Three English Versions Of Dao De Jing From The Perspective Of Interpersonal Function

Translation is a continuous pursuit of meaning. As a result, Hallidayan linguistics that sees language primarily as a meaning potential offers itself as a serviceable tool for determining the constituent parts of a source language text and its network of relation with its translation. As to meaning, Halliday put that it can be grouped into three types. And in systemic functional grammar (SFG), the three kinds of meanings equal to three kinds of metafuntions: the content meaning of language, that is, the ideational metafunction, the exchange meaning of language, that is, the interpersonal metafunction, and the organizing meaning of language, that is, the textual metafunction.Dao De Jing is a repository of ancient Chinese wisdom, which can be many things and can be read on many levels. It is structurally compact in a tiny frame arid impregnated with meaning. However, it is, first and foremost, a book on human being's cultivating and perfectibility. Overall, the aim of Dao De Jing is to influence readers'behavior, to guide them to a right way which is believed by the author. Since interpersonal meaning is the meaning of interaction, the interpersonal meaning is more dominant in Dao De Jing than the other two kinds of meanings. A good way to explore it is to reveal the way the interaction is carried on. Only when the interpersonal meaning is well translated, can the effect of the original work be well transmitted.This thesis compares three foreign translators'English versions of Dao De Jing in the light of systemic functional grammar. It falls into three chapters. Chapter One checks the faithfulness of these three versions via the parameter of mood; Chapter Two checks the faithfulness of these three versions via the parameter of modality; Chapter Three explores the reasons for the loss of the interpersonal meaning .The focus of this thesis lies in whether those translators faithfully convey the original author's intended interpersonal meaning. The aim of this thesis is to identify existing limitations of conveying interpersonal meaning in the three translated versions, to account for the reasons for these deviations and to suggest how these kinds of deviations can be avoided.This thesis can be seen as a new attempt to investigate the translation of Dao De Jing in terms of interpersonal meaning, which has been ignored before. By this detailed case study, it demonstrates that the translators'task is to convey the interpersonal intent of the original author in order to reproduce the same effect in their translations so as to influence the target language readers as well. In order to fulfill this task, the translators are required to have certain qualifications. They are supposed to be able to identify the interpersonal meaning of the source text and to achieve this kind of meaning in the target text. For translation critics, when commenting on a certain translated version, they should also bear the interpersonal meaning in mind, so as to discard their own biases and criticize the version more objectively. They should access the translated versions via clear interpersonal parameters so as to avoid vague and arbitrary judgments.