A Study Of Literary Translation Strategies From The Perspective Of Dynamic Equivalence Theory

The report is based on the translation of the first three chapters of Unveiling a Parallel, a feminist utopian novel written in the 19th century. Guided by Nida’s dynamic equivalence theory, the author employed a variety of translation strategies to overcome the difficulties as related to abstract words, mixed sentences, and cohesion in the source text. With these strategies, the translation achieved functional equivalence to a great extent.The novel is filled with detailed descriptions of scenes and inner feelings. On the lexical level, abstract words deserve close attention. On the syntactic level, long sentences and parenthesis abound with loose logic and complex structures, which makes it necessary to clarify the logic between the sentences in translation. On the textual level, connectives such as pronouns and conjunctions are commonly found, which makes it important to decide on whether they should all be represented in translation. With these considerations, the author drew on dynamic equivalence theory as the guidance for the translation practice because the theory helps to consider linguistic differences and the contextual meanings of the source text, and it helps the translation conform to the target language norms.Specifically, the author employedstrategiesof semantic explication, semantic extension, and semantic variation for explication of the abstract meanings; addition, deletion, and sentence reconstruction fora clear presentation of meanings in long and mixed sentences; and ellipsis and explication for optimizing cohesion, logic, and readability. These strategies proved constructive in the translation practice. The study seems to help enrich the dynamic equivalence theory on a practical level and shed light on further studies in literary translation.