Thematic Theory And Functional Equivalence In Translation

The essence of translation is the reproduction in one language of what is written or said in another language. It inevitably involves a contrastive study between the source language (SL) and the target language (TL). Only when one grasps the similarities and differences of the two languages can he represent faithfully the meanings of the original in accordance with the habitual expressing way of the TL.Since its introduction into China, the thematic theory is largely applied to text analysis. However, the application of thematic theory into translation studies is a phenomenon of recent years. The present paper is beneficial to researches both on thematic theory and on the understanding of the Fortress Besieged.By making a contrast between the two languages from the perspectives of thematic choice, information status and thematic progression, the author comes to the following conclusions:First, from the study of syntactic constituents in Theme position of the clause, it can be found that thematic choice is more flexible in Chinese than in English, since the Theme position can be occupied by adjective phrases, verb phrases and post-position structures. Secondly, Theme and Subject in English is more likely to be in coincidence than in Chinese. The reason for this is that English is a subject-prominent language while Chinese is a topic-prominent one, and there are a number of subjectless clauses in Chinese.Third, the markedness of the thematic fronting of object is different. It is unmarked in Chinese, since it is an inherent feature of Chinese, while this structure is marked in English, since it is a result of left-movement.Fourth, in English Theme can carry New information, Given information as well as Zero information, while in Chinese it tends to carry the Given information. This difference is caused by the different principles of clause construction in the two languages. English constructs clauses according to the principles of end-weight and end-focus, with the former being prior to the latter in case of conflict, while Chinese seems to only observe the principle of end-focus.Finally, difference in English and Chinese also lies in the thematic patterning in text organization. English tends to use subject repeatedly to achieve a sense of continuity, while Chinese inclines to use topic or zero subject as the typical method in organizing a coherent text.It can be seen from the above findings that English and Chinese have more differences than similarities in thematic structure. Therefore, on the one hand, similarities make possible as well as necessary for one to achieve thematic equivalence in translation. On the other hand, differences make it necessary for a translator to make corresponding changes to the original thematic structure.In short, if at all possible, one should try his best to reproduce the target text (TT) in a manner similar to that of the source text (ST). But when it is not possible to reproduce the thematic structure of the original naturally in the TL, one has to reorganize the ST according to the developing method of the TL and reflect faithfully the information status of the original. That is, to achieve functional equivalence, one should reproduce the meaning in line with the thematic structure of the TL without distorting the information structure of the SL.