Comp Stud Trans EN 3

A Comparative Study of Two English Versions of Shijing from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence Theory

Abstract: As the first general collection of poetry in ancient China, Shijing is unique in style and rich in words and phrases. The translation of Shijing has a history of several hundred years, and scholars at home and abroad have never interrupted the study of Shijing, but the study of the translation of it is still in its initial stage. Nowadays, the multicultural background of the times highlights the contemporary significance of the study of the English translation of Shijing even more. This paper intends to apply Nida’ s functional equivalence theory to analyze the two versions of English translations by Xu Yuanchong and Jame Legge of Shijing from four perspectives: stylistic, rhythm, diction and imagery. The following conclusion can be drawn according to the analysis: Shijing has a unique style and rhyme scheme, so the translation should firstly achieve parity with the original text in terms of style and form, and secondly the harmony of sound and rhyme should be focused on, so that readers of the translation version and readers of the original text will have a similar impression of the form of Shijing. Therefore, the translators should consider the words and phrases, and strive to reproduce the imagery of the original text or the emotion conveyed by that imagery while ensuring the fluency of the translation in order to achieve content equivalence. Key Words: Shijing, English Translation, Functional Equivalence Theory 摘要： 《诗经》作为我国古代第一步诗歌总集，文体独特，词句丰富。《诗经》的翻译已经有几百年的历史，国内外学者对《诗经》的研究从未中断过，但《诗经》翻译研究仍处于起步阶段。现如今，多元文化的时代背景更加突显《诗经》英译研究的当代意义。 本文旨在运用奈达的功能对等理论，从诗歌的文体、韵律、用词及意象四个角度，来分别对许渊冲和理雅各的《诗经》英译本进行分析，从而得出了以下结论：《诗经》中的诗歌有独特的文体和押韵方式，翻译时应首先在文体形式上达到与原文对等，其次应注重音韵的和谐，从而让译文读者与原文读者对《诗经》的形式有相似的印象。因此，译者应斟酌词句，在确保译文流畅的同时争取再现原文意象或该意象所传达的情感，以达到内容对等。 关键词：《诗经》，英译，功能对等理论

1. Introduction

 1.1 Theoretical Framework
     1.1.1 Eugene Nida’ s Functional Equivalence Theory
     1.1.2 Features of Functional Equivalence in Translation
 1.2 A Brief Introduction of the Two Versions of Shijing
     1.2.1 Legge’ s Version
     1.2.2 Xu Yuanchong’ s Version

2. Literature Review

 2.1 Previous Studies on Functional Equivalence Theory
 2.2 Previous Studies on the English Translation of Shijing

3. A Comparative Study of the Two English Versions

 3.1 Formal Equivalence 
     3.1.1 Stylistic
     3.1.2 Rhyme
 3.2 Functional Equivalence
     3.2.1 Diction
     3.2.2 Imagery

4. Conclusion