Comparative Analysis Of Two Translations Of Life Of Pi From The Perspective Of Appraisal Theory

Appraisal theory can be seen as extension of interpersonal function in systemicfunctional linguistics. It is concerned with the linguistic resources by which texts/speakersintend to express, negotiate and naturalize their position intersubjectively and ideologically.By analyzing appraisal resources, one could explore linguistic resources by which writersor speakers evaluate, understand how language users apply language resources to evaluatepeople and happenings, establish and maintain interpersonal relationships, and adoptpositions.In this thesis, the author intends to explore the distribution of the linguistic resourcesunder the framework of appraisal theory to reveal the intentions and positions the writerpasses to the readers, identify the differences between the original text and its translationand between the two versions of translation, and present possible reasons for thedifferences with regard to the reproduction of appraisal meaning in translations. This thesiswill take the perspective of three sub-systems of appraisal theory, carry out studies on theappraisal resources of Life of Pi and its two translations so as to analyze the distribution ofappraisal resources and the changes in translations through comparison.Based on Zhang Meifang’s classification from the perspective of the appraisal scale,both translators of Life of Pi have made certain adjustments so as to reconstruct theappraisal meanings in their target texts. Adjustments are made due to three major culturalreasons: differences between source language and target language, differences oftranslator’s cultural empathy and differences between ideologies of the writer andtranslators. What’s more, the analysis of equivalent scale of appraisal resources will helptranslators to better understand the source text and convey the appraisal meaning in targettext.