OnYangXianyiandGladysYang’sTranslationofLuXun’sMyOldHomefromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence

王常玨

【Abstract】Lu Xun has many classic works which are translated into English.Because of special traditional culture，the work contains a bright feature of the times and nationality characteristics.These cultural factors become the most difficult part in translation.Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yangs translation of Lu xuns work is the most famous one among so many translations.This paper will study Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yangs translation of Lu Xuns My Old Home from the perspective of Functional Equivalence.According to Functional Equivalence，it will appreciate the work from the title，culture-loaded word and dialect.

【Key words】cultural factors； translation； Functional Equivalence

Lu Xun，chief commander of China.s modern Cultural Revolution，is not only a great thinker and political commentator but the founder of modern Chinese literature.He establishes high status in the history of modern Chinese literature and initiates a new era in the development of Chinese fiction through a series of works such as The True Story of Ah Q，Kong Yi Ji，Medicine and so on.His works mainly reflect traditional thoughts，religious customs and tragic life of the working class.They sharply attack stark reality in the dark old society.His works are translated into different foreign languages and by different translators.Among these versions，Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yangs version is the most famous one.In their translation，they adopt many theories.This paper wills analysis the translation of My Old Home from the perspective of Functional Equivalence.

I.Introduction to Functional Equivalence

Put forward by Eugene A.Nida，Functional Equivalence Theory is widely used in translation studies.It includes three aspects： meaning，style and reader.s response.It indicates that the receptors ought to respond to the target text in the same way as the original receptors to the source text.In contrast to other traditional theories，it gives more prominence to cultural differences and reader.s response.Nida defined Functional Equivalence，“the readers of a translated text should be able to comprehend it to the point that they can conceive of how the original readers of the text must have understood and appreciated it”.

II.The Translation of Title

In this translation of Lu Xun.s work，Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang use“My Old Home”instead of“My Hometown”.In Chinese，it.s difficult to tell the differences between“My Hometown”and“My Old Home”But for target language readers，they are quite sensitive to these differences，for English is their mother tongue.“My Hometown”is a general word with a wider range which includes the author.s home，his living environment and something else.In “My Old Home”，Lu Xun mainly talks about his old family and one of his old friends，but not his former living environment.So “My Old Home”has a closer link with the topic，for“My Old Home”is about the people in Lu Xun.s home and also things happening in his family.Thus，precise choice of words can help readers from the target language appreciate works in the similar way as the readers from the source language.

III.The Translation of Culture-loaded word

Lu Xun is a writer with typical Chinese characteristics and his short stories are targeted at the traditional Chinese culture，so there are many culture-loaded words in his short stories.For example.

我孩子的時候，在斜對面的豆腐店里確乎終日坐著一個楊二嫂，人都叫伊“豆腐西施”。

《故鄉》When I was a child there was a Mrs.Yang who used to sit nearly all day long in the beancurd shop across the road，and everybody used to call her Beancurd Beauty.

“豆腐”is literally translated into English“benacurd” which is a kind of food.And readers from both source and target languages can understand its meaning.In Chinese history，“西施”is a very beautiful woman.There are four beauties in ancient China and“西施”is one of them.However，readers from target language are not familiar with background information.In view of this，the translators transferred the original meaning“beauty” into the target language.It is not only getting rid of culture difference，but also helping readers understand its original meaning.

There is another example.

“阿！閏土哥，——你來了？……”

……

……他的態度終于恭敬起來了，分明的叫道：

“老爺！……”《故鄉》

“Oh！ Runtu——so its you？...”

…

…Finally，assuming a respectful attitude，he said clearly：

“ Master！...” （ My Old Home）

This is a dialogue between Lu Xun and Runtu.In China，“老爺”is mostly used to call aristocrat，rich people and gentry.In this story，Lu Xun and Runtu were good friends in their childhood，but they were master and servant now.Combined with two different cultures，Yang and Gladys directly translated this “老爺”to its English equivalent “Master”It is a very short word but insightful irony to depict the thick barrier between Lu Xun and Runtu.The word shows Runtu.s respect for Lu Xun and also expresses the sad feeling of Lu Xun.

IV.The Translation of dialect

Some dialects are loaded with a unique connotation in certain localities of China.In My Old Home，Lu Xun used a peculiar dialect word as follows：

我家只有一個忙月，忙不過來，他便對父親說，可以叫他的兒子閏土來管理祭器的。《故鄉》

Our family had only one part-time servant.And since there was so much to be done，he told my father that he would send for his son Runtu to look after the sacrificial vessels.（My Old Home）

“忙月”is a dialectal word of Shaoxing and it referred to a helper of a family in some festivals.If it is literally translated into English，the readers from target language cannot understand what the real meaning is.Because of culture difference，they dont have enough background information about Chinese traditional culture.Therefore，Yang and Gladys translate this expression into “part-time servant” which is understandable to the target text readers.They can have a feeling equal to the original readers.

V.Conclusion

The translation skills of Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang are worth to be learned by us.No matter what kind of translation method they adopt，literal translation or free translation，they always seek Functional Equivalence in the sense of creating a similar response in the target audience.And through the study on Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang.s translation of Lu Xun.s My Old Home，it.s easy to see that Functional Equivalence plays an important role in translation of literary works.And it can be achieved at different levels in translation practice.During the process of translation，cultural obstacles always exist at different levels.Sometimes，cultural information gets lost after translation.So，translators should take various translation skills to make up for the missing infrormation and obtain the original meaning to the maximu.

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