On The Translation Of Lu Xun's Stories From The Perspective Of Functional Stylistics

As one of the most significant figures in modern Chinese literature,Lu Xun has finished a wide variety of works and his stories are equipped with distinctive style.The studies of the translation of Lu Xun's stories have been mostly trapped in the level of words or vocabularies,lacking a systematic assessing tool.This paper compares and discusses the two versions of translation of Lu Xun's very first collection of short stories,????(Call to Arms or Outcry),based on the three metafunctions in functional stylistics of Halliday.Using the theory of the three metafunctions of the language,this paper probes into the style of Lu Xun in????from the ideational function,which is broken down to transitivity system,lexis,and rhetoric,the interpersonal function,which is broken down to mood system,modality and vocatives,and the textual function,which is broken down to information system and cohesive device.Comparing the translations of Yang Xianyi&Gladys Yang and Lovell,this study discusses the reproduction of the original style and the conveying of literary effect in the ST.This paper finds out that Yangs' version has grasped and conveyed the metafunctions in the ST more faithfully,which may serve to keep the overall style of the original.In rendering the ideational function,the conveying of transitivity system can reproduce the narrating rhythm or the characters' perspective in the original,highlighting the thematic value of the ST.The rendering of lexis can convey the cultural and historical value.The rendering of rhetoric can recreate the unique application of rhetorical skill of Lu Xun,which has the potential to reflect the unorthodox use of the rhetorical device.In conveying the interpersonal function,the mood system serves to depict the characteristics of certain characters,along with advancing the overall plot.The vocatives serve to manifest the interact within classes,revealing the historical background of certain stories.In conveying the textual function,the rendering of information system can be used to reproduce the deeper meaning hidden behind the rearrangement of particular information.The rendering of the cohesion can serve to recreate the interrelationship and coordination between the ideational and the interpersonal function,along with the smoothness of the ST.The proper rendering of the metafunctions not only carries values in the translation of Lu Xun's stories,also plays a crucial role in translating different types of literary texts and can be considered as a powerful evaluating tool in assessing the translation products.