从功能对等理论的角度分析吕娜翻译的《活出生命的意义》

.IntroductionAsthedevelopmentofthesocietyandeconomyaswellastechnologyinChina,peoplehavemoreandmorepressureonaccountoftheirstudy,work,socialcontact,life,andetc..However,somepeoplecannotadjustthemselveswell,whichbringsthemanxietyandsetbackthatmighthitthemmoreandmayresultinaviciouscircle.Therefore,treatmenttotheseanxietyandsetbackisveryurgentforChinesepeoplenowadays,especiallyforyoungpeopleasmostofthemhavenotsomuchworkandsocialexperience,buttheyhavetosupporttheirfamilies.Asfarasthisproblemisconcerned,ViktorEmilFranklM.D.’sMan’sSearchforMeaningcouldbemeaningfulforit,whichcouldhelppeoplesolvethementalpressurewellbythemselvesandevenfindthemeaningoftheirlives,changingtheirdailylivesandevenfates.ThroughdescribinghisownmiserableexperienceinconcentrationcampsinGermanyduringtheNaziperiod,Frankltakehimselfasanexampletoshowhowthedailylivesoftheprisonersoftheconcentrationcampsreflectedtheirthoughtsandtoelucidatetheimportanceoflifetopeople.So,thisthesismainlydiscusseshowLvconsideredthecharacteristicsofthesourcelanguageandthetargetlanguageandmadebalancebetweenthemintheprocessoftranslatingMan’sSearchforMeaningfromtheperspectiveofFunctionalEquivalenceTheory.Thepaperisbetterdescribedfromtheseaspects:anoverviewofMan’sSearchforMeaningandthepreviousstudiesofit,anoverviewofFunctionalEquivalenceTheory,caseanalysisoftranslationofLv’sChineseversionofMan’sSearchforMeaninginlexicallevelandinsemanticlevel.Throughdeepdiscussionoftheseaspects,thepaperwouldrealizethetranslationqualityofLv’sChineseversionofMan’sSearchforMeaning.

2.LiteratureReview2.1AnOverviewofLv’sChineseVersionofMan’sSearchforMeaningMan’sSearchforMeaningisabookaboutliving.FrankldescribedhisexperienceinAuschwitzConcentrationCampthat“stoodforallthatwashorrible:gaschambers,crematoriums,massacres”andthecampatDachauandhisobservationonotherprisoners’thoughtschanges.Heconcludedthreestagesoftheseprisoners’mentalreflectiononthecamplife:theperiodfollowinghisadmission;theperiodwhenheiswellentrenchedincamproutine;andtheperiodfollowinghisreleaseandliberation.Fromthisexperience,hefoundthatlifeismeaningfulandisnotthesameforeveryoneateverymoment.Therefore,itishardandevennotpossibletodefinethemeaningoflifeingeneral.Thereisnosingleanswertothequestionofthemeaningoflife.Themeaningoflifeisnotsomethingvaguebutveryspecific,whichconstitutesman'sdestiny,andeachman'sdestinyisunique.Everyoneandhisdestinycannotbecomparedtoanyoneelseandtheirfates.Asforthemeaningoftheirownindividuallife,itneedsthemtofindtheirown.“Ultimately,manshouldnotaskwhatthemeaningofhislifeis,butratherhemustrecognizethatitishewhoisasked.Inaword,eachmanisquestionedbylife;andhecanonlyanswertolifebyansweringforhisownlife.”(Frankl,113-114)Searchingthemeaningoflifeisnaturalneed,buttherearemainlytwothingsmakepeoplethinkthatlifeisnotmeaningful.Oneisexistentialfrustration,andtheotheroneisexistentialvacuum.Inaddition,thetransiencyoflifealsoaffectspeople’sthinkingtothemeaningoflife.So,thelogotherapycouldhelppeoplesearchandfindoutthemeaningoflife.Logotherapyisapsychologicaltherapythatfocusesonguidingpatientstoseekandfindthemeaningoflife,settingclearlifegoals,andfacingandcontrollinglifewithapositiveattitude.Itislessintrospectiveandretroactive,butmorefuture-orientedwithaneyetothemeaningthatshouldbeaccomplishedinthefuture,puttingemphasisonthepsychotherapyofmeaningsothatpeoplecanfaceuptoandre-understandthemeaningoflife.2.2PreviousStudiesonLv’sChineseVersionofMan’sSearchforMeaningInthepaper“HeWhoHasaWhytoLiveforCanBearAlmostAnyHow—afterReadingMan’sSearchforMeaning”,HuYangthinksthatthisbook,Man’sSearchforMeaning,isaclassicwithalotofmeaningandisawitnessofagreatman'sspiritualsublimation.Thisbookcontinuestoupholdtheviewthatlifeisfullofmeaning,thatthereisapurposetolife,thatpeopleshouldabandontheintrusionoftheenvironmentandlearntopursuethemeaningoflife.Fortoday'snihilisticsocietyinwhichmeaningismissing,Man’sSearchforMeaningislikeadazzlingbeaconinthedark,worthyofeveryonetoreadcarefully.Ittellsusthroughtheauthor'sspecialpersonalexperienceandrigorousscientificanalysisthatapositiveattitudenotonlymakespeoplefeelhappyandsatisfied,butalsomakespeopleexperiencehardshipsandsetbacksandthatwehavenocontroloverwhathappensinourlives,butwedohavecontroloverouremotionsandactionsinthefaceoftheseevents.InHuYang’sopinionafterreadingthisbook,weshoulddeservewhatwesuffersandsearchthereasonsforhappinessbutnothappinessintheflesh;loveisthemeaningfortheuniversetoexistsforever;andFrankl’slifeisaction-awarenessmerging.Intheotherpaper“PlayOurRolesWellintheLife—afterReadingMan’sSearchforMeaning”,TaiXiathinksthatweneedtoplayourroleswellinourlives.Forparents,notonlyforourselvesbutalsoforourfere’s,weneedtobegoodchildren;forchildren,weneedtobegoodparents;forourjobs,weneedtobegoodstaff;forourfamilies,weneedtobegoodferes;andforpartners,weneedtobegoodfriends.So,TaiXiathinksthatthemeaningoflifeistoplayourroleswellinourlives.2.3PreviousStudiesontheTranslationofFunctionalEquivalenceTheory AccordingtoZhangYunjiaoandZhangJun’s“ABriefTalkontheValueandLimitationofEugeneNida'sFunctionalEquivalenceTheory,FunctionalEquivalenceTheoryhasitsownvalue,thatisitisanewapproachtotranslationstudiesandnewtranslationqualityevaluationstandards. Withactivethinkingandbeingfreefromprejudice,EugeneA.Nidawasabletointegrateotherdisciplineswithtranslationstudiesandusedthemostcutting-edgeresearchresultstostudytranslation,makingthefunctionalequivalencetheorymorescientificandmorecomplete.Additionally,Nida'sthistheoryalsoprovidedanewperspectiveandanewmethodfortranslationstudiesinChina,whichtookdomesticscholarsfromthedisputeof"literaltranslation"and"freetranslation",broughtanewresearchperspectiveforourcountry'stranslationstudiesandalsobroadenedtheresearchideaandmethodoftranslation.Thishashigherreferencevalueforourcountry'stranslationstudies.Besides,inNida'sopinion,thefinalcriterionforjudgingthequalityofatranslationwasbasedonthreeaspects:readers(receivers)cancorrectlyunderstandtheoriginalinformation,thatis,“faithfultotheoriginal”;easytounderstand;appropriateformtoattractreaders(receivers).Itisanimportantpartofdynamicequivalencethattakesthetargettextreceiverastheservicetargetandadjuststheformofthetranslationforthetargettextreceiver,whichisalsothemostimportantandcriticalcoreofNida'stheory.However,FunctionalEquivalenceTheoryalsohaslimitations.Becauseeachrecipientofthetranslatedtextwillhavedifferentopinionsonthetranslatedtextduetohisownculturallevel,age,socialenvironmentandreligiousbelief,thistheorycannotachievetheequivalenceoftheresponseoftherecipientofthetranslationalthoughithasopenedupnewideasforourtranslationstudies.What’smore,duetoexcessivelypursuingtheconsistencyofreaders'response,histranslationtheoryisalsolimited.Therefore,whileusingthistheory,weshouldpayattentiontothescopeofitsapplicationandmakefulluseofitsadvantageswhileavoidingitsdisadvantages.2.4OriginalitiesofthestudyCurrently,therearenotmanydomesticversionsofMan'sSearchforMeaning,butLv'sChineseversionisthemostpopular.However,mostofthestudiesonMan'sSearchforMeaningathomeandabroadarefromtheperspectiveofliterature,andthereisnoresearchonitstranslationyet.Therefore,thispaperisthefirststudyonthistranslation,whichisofcertainsignificanceandoriginality.

3.TheoreticalFrameworkEugeneA.Nidaisaworld-renownedtranslationpractitionerandtranslationtheorist,whoismainlyengagedinthestudyofBibletranslation,andputforwardtheworld-famousFunctionalEquivalenceTheoryintheresearchprocess,whichisoneofthemostimportantandcoretheoriesofhimandhasexertedahugeimpactonthetranslationcircleinChinaandeventhewholeworld.InNida'sopinion,translationistodeliverthecontentofthesourcetexttothetargetaudienceinthemostaccessibleway,andthemeaningofthetextalwaysoccupiesahigherpositionthanthestyleofthetext.Therefore,FunctionalEquivalenceTheoryconsidersmoreaboutthefeelingsofthetargetlanguageaudience,andtranslatorsshouldalsofullyconsidertheneedsoftheaudienceintheprocessoftranslation,ratherthanbeinglimitedtothelanguagestructureoftheoriginaltext,especiallythesentencestructure.Onlyinthiswaycanthetranslationbemorefluentandhelpfultothetargetaudience'sunderstanding.Inconclusion,itisnotdifficulttofindthatthecoreofNida'sfunctionalequivalencetheoryisthatthesourcelanguageinformationcannotonlybeclearbutalsobeaccuratelyconveyedtotheaudienceaftertranslationbythetranslator,andthetargetlanguageaudienceandthesourcelanguageaudiencehavethesamedegreeofacceptance. 4.CaseAnalysisofTranslationofLv’sChineseVersionofMan’sSearchforMeaning4.1LexicallevelTranslationisbasedonunderstanding.Differentunderstanding,ofcourse,willhavedifferenttranslation.Understandingtheconnotationoftranslationandwhattranslatorshavedoneisthepremiseofunderstandingtheideasandtheoriesexpressedintranslation.Theprimarytaskoftranslationistheregenerationofsymbolicmeaning.Inotherwords,translationistheregenerationofmeaning.Becausegoodprofessionaltranslationisnotonlytheliteralunderstandingandliteraltranslation,butalsothetranslationwithrichculturalconnotation,richideologicalconnotationandrichemotionalconnotation.Inlexicallevel,therearethreeaspects:literaltranslation,translationwithadditionandtranslationwithdeletion.Althoughineachofthemtherearedifferentwaystotranslate,theycouldallconveythebettermeaningandconnotationtothereadersintheirownways.4.1.1LiteralTranslationLiteraltranslationreferstothetranslationthatadoptstheexpressionmethodsoforiginalswithouttoomuchadjustmentsonthesentencestructureandthewordorder.Itcouldnotonlyremainthecharacteristicsoforiginalsbutalsomakereadersaccepttheliterarystylesoforiginalsgenerally,promotethediversityoflanguageandenrichthelinguisticformsoftargetlanguage,whichisbeneficialtotransculturalcommunicationandinterchanges.InLv’sChineseversionofMan’sSearchforMeaning,therearesomeexamplesjustasthefollowings:Theexistentialvacuum存在之虚无Existentialfrustration存在之挫折So,inthesesituations,literaltranslationcouldwellshowthemeaningsandconnotationoftheoriginal.Ingeneral,wewoulduseliteraltranslation.Butifliteraltranslationcouldnotconveycorrectmeaningorbetterconnotation,weshouldusefreetranslationsuitably.Forexample:Thewilltomeaning追求意义“Will”means“意志”originally,and“meaning”means“意义”.Withoutfreetranslation,thisphrasewouldbetranslatedinto“意义的意志”,whichwouldconfusereaders.Thus,Lvusedfreetranslationandtranslateditinto“追求意义”,whichconveyedclearmeaning.Nomatterusingliteraltranslationorfreetranslation,understandingtheoriginalisalwaysthepremise.Whileusingliteraltranslation,translatorsshouldtranslateasreasonableaspossibletomakereadersunderstandthetranslationmoreeasily.Otherwise,thetranslationmaybeword-for-wordtranslationordeadtranslation.Whileusingfreetranslation,translatorsshouldpayattentiontofactualbasisbutnotcreatesomethingoutofnothingorfabricatesomethingcasually.Therefore,translatorsshoulduseliteraltranslationandfreetranslationproperly.Inthisway,LvNadidwellintheChineseversionofMan’sSearchforMeaning.4.1.2AdditionAlthoughweusuallyuseliteraltranslationandfreetranslation,sometimesweshouldaddsomethingintranslationtomakereadersunderstandmoreeasilyduetodifferentculturalbackgroundsoftwolanguages.Therearesomeexamplesasthefollowings:Alogodrama意义治疗的心理剧“Logos”isaGreekword,whichmeans“意义”.So,iflogodramawastranslatedinto“意义戏剧”,itcouldnotwellconveyFrankl’smeaningaboutlogotherapy,andreaderscouldneitherwellunderstandtheitsconnectionwithlogotherapy.So,translating“logodrama”into“意义治疗的心理剧”isbetter.ThereisanotherexamplethatcouldalsoshowLv’swelluseoftranslationwithaddition:Defensemechanism心理防御机制Inthisexample,LvNaadded“心理”inhertranslation,whichiswellconnectedwiththethemeofthisbookandmakesreaderscomprehenditmoreeasily.4.1.3DeletionInadditiontotranslationwithaddition,translationwithdeletionisalsoneededsometimes.Forexample:Logotherapyinanutshell意义疗法Inthisexample,“logotherapyinanutshell”shouldbeoriginallytranslatedinto“意义疗法简述”,butthistranslationshowalittleredundancebecauseweusuallywanttoseeaconciseheadlinethatcouldtellusthecontentstraightforward.So,without“简述”,“意义疗法”showsmoreconcision,anditalsoshowsLvNa’swelltranslationwithdeletion.4.2SyntacticlevelBecauseEnglishbelongstoIndo-EuropeanlanguagesandChinesebelongstoSino-Tibetanlanguages,thesentencestructuresofthesetwolanguagesarequitedifferent.Therefore,itneedstranslatorstohavestronglanguagefoundation,clearlyknowingbothEnglishsentencestructureandChinesesentencestructure.Onlywiththisconditioncantranslatorsmakenaturalandfluenttranslationconvenienttothepeopleofthetargetlanguage.4.2.1ReconstructionDuetobelongingtodifferentlanguages,translatorsshouldhavesomereconstructioninsentenceswhiletranslating.Example:Itisobviousthatinnoogeniccasestheappropriateandadequatetherapyisnotpsychotherapyingeneralbutratherlogotherapy;atherapy,thatis,whichdarestoenterthespecificallyhumandimension.Translation:显而易见，治疗意源性神经官能症最适当、最有效的办法不是一般意义上的心理疗法，而是意义疗法，只有意义疗法能够突出人特有的意识。Inthisexample,LvNatranslated“itisobvious”into“显而易见”andputitonthepositionofadverbialmodifiertoshowtheauthor’sattitude.Inthelaterpart,sheusedthesentencepattern“只有……能……”toshowemphasize“logotherapy”,whichisconformtoFrankl’smeaningintheoriginal.4.2.2Semantic&structuralundulatenessInChinesesentences,clausesareoftennotparalleltoeachother.ThestructureofChinesesentencesusuallyhascleardistinction,whichdividesintothemaininformationandbackgroundinformationclearly.Forexample:Example:Man,however,isabletoliveandeventodieforthesakeofhisidealsandvalues!Translation:人，能够为了自己的理想和价值而活，甚至为此付出生命！Inthisexample,“forthesakeofhisidealsandvalues”istheprepositionstructure,andinLvNa’stranslation,theprepositionstructurewasputforwardtoshowtheconditionfirst,whichisconvenientforreaderstounderstandandconformstoChinesepeople’swayofthinking.

5.ConclusionFunctionaltranslationtheorybreaksthroughthetraditionaltranslationfielddominatedbytheequivalencetheoryforalongtimeandfocusesonthetranslationanditsfunctioninthetargetculture.ThispaperarguesthatfromtheperspectiveofFunctionalEquivalenceTheory,Lv’sChineseversionofMan’sSearchforMeaningisagoodtranslationversion.Atthelexicallevel,LvNausedliteraltranslationwithsomefreetranslationproperly,translationwithadditionandtranslation