A Comparative Study Of Two Chinese Versions Of The Woman In White

In light of Nida's theory of "functional equivalence", this thesis makes a comparative study of two Chinese versions of Wilkie Collins' novel The Woman in White, so as to prove the feasibility of the theory and search for the practical approaches in literary translation.The paper consists of six chapters. It starts with an introduction to Nida's theory of "functional equivalence" and its application in literary translation. The second chapter introduces the original novel The Woman in White and its two Chinese versions translated by Ye independently and Cao, Dai & Zhuang jointly. The third chapter, the main body of the thesis, is a comparative study of two versions chosen in two perspectives: first in terms of meaning, second in terms of style. In terms of meaning, two categories of meaning (referent meaning and connotative meaning) are explained and illustrative analysis is conducted. In terms of style, three aspects are emphasized: figures of speech, narration and aesthetic appeal, that are characterized the original novel. The fourth chapter introduces the main elements of novel and makes a general comparison of two Chinese versions in light of F-E.After a detailed comparison, the paper offers an evaluation of two Chinese versions. It mainly consists of two parts: one is different approaches adopted by two groups of translators; the other is merits and demerits of two translations.Based on comparison and analysis of two versions, conclusions are drawn as follows: Overall impact vs. specific details; Importance of the intended readers; Necessary adjustments in culture connotation; achieving "equivalence" at two levels...