A Report Of E-C Translation Of To Conquer The Air(Excerpts)from The Perspective Of The Functional Equivalence Theory

This report is based on the E-C translation of To Conquer the Air(Excerpts).It is a work of biographical literature written by American writer James Tobin,which tells a story of painstaking pursuit of the ambition for human flight with the invention of plane.On the one hand,biographical literature is based on real historical figures and events;on the other hand,biographical literature shares the features of literature by applying artistic means of description.Therefore,it boasts both the features of history and literature.The words in the source text is formal and elegant.Many words and phrases are applied in specific context to reveal implicit meanings.The structure of many sentences is very complicated.Rhetorical and cohesive devices are widely applied.Besides,letters and poetry are quoted in the source text.According to the analysis of the features of biographical literature and the source text,the translator adopts Functional Equivalence Theory as guidance of translation.Guided by Functional Equivalence Theory,the translator aims to work out a target text that is not only faithful to the source text but also rich in literary grace.Besides,the translator should take receptor language and receptor culture into consideration so that the target text is loyal to the source text and full of literary grace.Meanwhile,the target text should be readable to reproduce the closest response from target readers.Inspired by Functional Equivalence Theory,the translator applies translation methods of free translation,literal translation and translation techniques such as amplification to translate words and phrases in specific context.The translator takes translation techniques including amplification,division and inversion to translate sentences with complicated structure or rhetorical devices.Last but not least,the translator adopts translation techniques such as conversion,amplification and inversion to make target text coherent.This report includes four major parts: task description,process description,case analysis and conclusion.Chapter one indicates the background,purpose,significance and structure of the project.Chapter two briefly introduces the content of the source text,analyses the features and difficulties about words,phrases,sentences and text,and introduces Functional Equivalence Theory.Chapter three probes the application of Functional Equivalence Theory in translation cases with the sequence of words,phrases,sentences and text.Chapter four sums up the inspiration and limitation from the translation project.