Equivalent Translation Based On Text Function

This dissertation intends to argue that translation equivalence is closely related to text-function and that the realization of translation equivalence shall have text-function as its basis. Text-function-based equivalence has a great possibility to be considered as a translation criterion.Equivalence has been the central issue both in translation theory over the last two thousand years and in modern translation studies although its definition, relevance and applicability within the field have caused many heated controversies, and many different theories of the concept of equivalence have been elaborated within this field in the past decades. To a large degree, translation theory has hitherto evolved around the concept of equivalence. The remarkable scholars and theories in this field are Jakobson's concept of "equivalence in difference", Nida's "formal correspondence" and "dynamic equivalence", and Catford's "textual equivalence". Their theories have paved the foundations for the concept of equivalence, and have, to a large degree, shaped its later development.Translation study has a long history which develops from Cicero's perception of not translating "word for word" to the present time when translation has become an interlingual and interdisciplinary study encompassing linguistics, communication studies, philosophy and a range of types of cultural studies. Since 1950s to 1960s, the development in the linguistic theory has been promoting the development of the translation theory. The study of language has something to say about the study of translation, and every translation theory works within the framework of one or more linguistic models and uses them as its analytical and descriptive tools. The application of linguistic findings to translation studies will offer a critical ground on which to test the linguistic issues. It is a win-win relation between linguistic studies and translation studies.Text function is one of the important notions in text linguistics in relation to translation from various perspectives and for different purposes, and has been the basis of various attempts to make translation "scientific" or objectively justifiable. In the early 1980s, the theory of text linguistics was introduced into translation studies by western scholars who study translation and equivalence on the textual levei. Text typology refers to the typology that concerns text linguistics and is the main areas where text linguistics can contribute to or benefit from translation studies. The 1970s and 1980s, under the topic of "translation-oriented text typology", witness a shift from the static linguistic typologies of translation and the flourishing of a functional and communicative approach to the analysis of translation. The study of translation-oriented text typology probably first goes to the work of German scholar Katharina Reiss in 1970s. Working within the tradition of functionalism, Reiss puts forward a function typology of three main "pure" text types: informative, expressive, and operative and considers all the three functions figure simultaneously, but not equally in any linguistic expression. She maintains that one of these functions becomes dominant in any given text. Reiss also has put forward the idea that translation strategy has something to do with both text type and text function. To a great extent, Reiss's study serves as the foundation for the later exploration of translation-oriented text typology. Hatim and Mason are also famous for their text typology. They put forward totally seven text types under three main categories. Based on the previous studies, the author classifies four text types: informative function text, expressive function text, appellative function text, and argumentative function text. The paper argues that equivalence based on text function can serve as one criterion for translation, whose validity and applicability will be proved by its application to the activity of rendering Chinese tourism text.Tourism in today's China is an increasingly booming industry owing to the opening and reform policy, the rise of multinational exchanges and corporations. However, in China, the study of tourism translation is far behind what is expected. Tourism text, as a certain text type, has its own particular text functions. According to the translation-oriented text typology, three key text functions can be identified from the tourism text, namely, appellative function, descriptive function, and the informative function. Different translation strategies are advanced in relation to these three text functions: (1) appellative function equivalence: reader-centered; (2) informative function equivalence: reader's needs-centered, by adding necessary explanation concerning relevant background information, omitting some cultural information; (3) descriptive function equivalence: aesthetic interestsThe dissertation places text-function-based translation equivalence as a sufficient way to translate tourism text, which in turn proves the credibility and feasibility of text-function-based translation equivalence.