A Report On The Translation Of Records Of Streets And Alleys In Chengdu(Excerpt) From The Perspective Of Functional Equivalence Theory

This report selects Yuan Tingdong’s work--the first volume of Records of Streets and Alleys in Chengdu as the translation and research object.It is the translation of celebrity stories and historical sites which related to streets and alleys.Based on personal research and historical data,the author of the source text narrated the stories of the streets and alleys in old Chengdu in an objective way.To allow English readers to comprehend the text accurately,the translation report is guided by functional equivalence.From the four aspects of functional equivalence--lexical equivalence,syntactical equivalence,textual equivalence,and stylistic equivalence,the translation strategies are discussed to solve the translation difficulties in the translation of historical documents.The author tries to achieve functional equivalence as much as possible and make the translation more acceptable.The report consists of four chapters: the first chapter analyzes the source text,in which the text type and the linguistic features are determined.The second chapter specifies the three translation steps during the translation process.The third chapter outlines the functional equivalence and its four aspects.The fourth chapter demonstrates the translation examples guided by functional equivalence and proves the applicability of functional equivalence in the English translation of historical documents.Finally,it summarizes the findings,limitations,and suggestions of the report.This report aims to provide feasible translation strategies for the informativebased historical documents,especially to give some references to the translation related to this book and the Bashu culture.It will promote the cultural exchange between China and the West and the study of the Bashu culture in foreign countries.