诺德的功能翻译理论视角下小说《我们会好的》（第十一章及第十二章）翻译实践报告

IntroductionThetranslationofliteraryworksplaysavitalroleinpromotingculturalexchangesathomeandabroad.AlthoughtherearemanypeoplelearningEnglishnowadays,thenumberofpeoplewhocanreadliteraryclassicsthroughtheoriginaltextisstillverylimited.Noteveryonecanreadtheoriginaltextskillfully.Therefore,translationtheorybecomesanindispensablemedium.ThispaperselectstwochaptersofWeAreOkaybyNinaLacourastheresearchobject,andappliestranslationskillsandNord’stheoryoffunctionplusloyaltyinthetranslationofliteraryworks,whichpaysattentiontotheguidance,universalityandpracticabilitytothetranslationprocess.Inaddition,inordertomakereadersbetterunderstandtheapplicationofthistheoryinthetranslationofthispaper,thispaperwillalsoanalyzespecificexamplesandcombineitwiththetranslationtheory.What’smore,translationlearnerswillpaymoreattentiontothesecondgenerationofGermanfunctionaltranslationtheory,especiallyitsguidingroleinthetranslationprocess,andapplyittotranslationpracticetoimprovetranslationskillsandlevel.Thefirstpartofthepaperisthetaskdescription,whichisdividedintothreeparts,mainlyforthebriefintroductionofthepaper.Thenthesecondpartistheelaborationofthetheoryoffunctionaltranslation.Inthelastpart,thispaperwillhaveacasestudyontranslationversions.Inthispart,theauthorwillexplorehow,withthehelpofNord’sfunctionaltranslationtheory,tobetterexpressthedeepmeaningconveyedbythesourcelanguageinthetargetlanguage.

PartITaskDescription1.1IntroductiontotheSourceTextNinaLaCour,whohasbeenwritingnovelsfortenyears,hasmadeimportantcontributionstoAmericanjuvenileliterature.SheisthebestsellingandMichaelL.PrintzAward-winningauthoroffourcriticallyacclaimedyoungadultnovelspublishedbyDuttonBooks:WeAreOkay,HoldStill,TheDisenchantments,andEverythingLeadstoYou.WeAreOkayisashortbutpoeticandbeautifullywrittenmeditationonhowtolivethroughgrief.IttellsthestoryofagirlnamedMarlinwhostrugglestopullherselftogetheraftereverythingsheknowsfallsintochaos.BecauseWeAreOkayisayouthnovel,whichcontainstoomanythingsthatteenagerswillencounter,suchasthedeathofrelatives,emotionalproblemsandsoon.Itdigsoutthepain,friendship,loveandthemorecomplicatedrelationshipbetweenthetwoheroines.Thisbook,fromMarlin’spointofview,depictsthechangeofattitudewhenteenagersexperienceemotionalproblems,thatis,howtogrowupfromthesetbackstheyencounter.TheseemotionalproblemsdescribedbyNinaLacouraresorealthateveryonecanfeel,andevenfeel,thateverypeakandvalleyofMarin’semotionaljourneyisinyourskinandgut.Thisisconducivetothecorrecthandlingoftheemotionalproblemsofcontemporaryyouth.1.2TheFeaturesoftheSourceTextWeAreOkayisoneofmanyworksinyoungadultliterature,whichoccupiesanindispensablepositioninthemarket.Inthe1920s,Americansocietybegantoregardteenagersasanindependentagestage,andjuvenileliterature,aspecializedliterarygenre,begantoemerge.Itsthemesincludegrowth,socialproblems,emotionandfantasy,amongwhichtherearemanystoriesaboutyoungpeoplewhoexperiencedarknessandcrueltyinrealityandgraduallygrowuptobeadults.Atthesametime,youthnovelshavethefollowingcharacteristics.Firstofall,inordertowinyoungpeople’srecognitionandlove,youngadultnovelsstrivetobeconsistentwithyoungpeople’sexperienceandemotionintermsoflanguage,task,plot,theme,etc.Forexample,WeAreOkayisanovelwiththethemeoffamily,friendshipandlove,anditalsotellsaboutthepainandstruggleofsexualorientation,whichisexactlytheemotionthatcontemporaryteenagershavetoexperience.Thenovelcanreflecttherealitywell.Secondly,thenarrativerhythmofthenovelisfast,andtheplottimespanisshort,usuallyavacation,asemesteroraperiodoftime.InthenovelWeAreOkay,itisabouttheemotionalchangesoftheheroineMarinduringtheperiodofstudyinginanotherplaceafterhergrandfatherdied.Thirdly,thelanguageofthenovelisconciseandclear,anditoftenusestheoralstyleofteenagersintheirdailylife.ThenovelWeAreOkayismainlyunfoldedintheformofdialogueandtheoralstyleinteenagers’dailylife.Thisrequiresthetranslatortobeclosetotheoriginaltextwhentranslatingthetextandstrivetoshowtheoralstyleinthetargetlanguage.Theseremarkablecharacteristicsmaketheyouthnoveldifferentfromtheadultnovel,andprovidetheperspectiveandbasisforthereaderstounderstandtheyouthnovel.1.3SignificanceoftheReportThispapermainlydiscussestheguidingroleofNord’sfunctionaltranslationtheoryinthetranslationoftheyouthnovelWeAreOkay.Becausethisnovelbelongstotheyouthnovel,whichistheblankpartofliteraturemarket.Therefore,thetranslationofforeignexcellentyouthliteraturecannotonlyfilltheneedsoftheyouthmarket,butalsobenefitthosereaderswhohaveacertainlevelofforeignlanguagebutarenotabletofullyunderstandaliterarywork.Thenovelmainlytellshowtofacethesetbacksencounteredinadolescence,anditscontentpaysmoreattentiontopsychologicaldescription.Thesecanhaveapositiveimpactontheadolescentreaders,includingunderstandingtheemotionalproblemsfacedbyadolescentsindifferentculturesandhowtodealwiththemcorrectly.UndertheguidanceofNord’sfunctionaltranslationtheory,thetranslationofthenovelneedsnotonlytheauthor’sbackgroundandculture,butalsoathoroughunderstandingofthetheory.Thiscanhelptheauthorimprovetranslationabilityinpracticeandatthesametimebetterunderstandandapplyfunctionaltranslationtheory.PartIIFunctionalTranslationTheory2.1TheBackgroundofFunctionalTranslationTheoryInthe1960sand1970s,influencedbystructurallinguistics,GermantranslationscholarsformedtheLeipzigschoolrepresentedbyA.NeubertandtheSaarbruckenschoolrepresentedbyW.Wilss.Theformer,basedontransformationalgenerativegrammar,distinguishesbetweenconstantandvariablecognitivefactorsintranslation,whilethelatter,afollowerofNida’stheory,advocatestheestablishmentoftranslationscience.“Equivalence”hasbecomethecenteroftranslationstudies,andvarioustheoriesoftranslationequivalence,whichdrawonlinguistictheories,haveemerged,butmostofthemarejustarecombinationofequivalenceforms.Thiskindoflinguisticscientificresearchisbecomingmoreandmoreintense,whichmakestranslationbecomeanaccessoryoflinguistics,whichgreatlyrestrictsthedevelopmentofthisdiscipline.Atthesametime,moreandmoretranslatorsaredissatisfiedwiththeseriousdisconnectionbetweentheoryandpractice.Atthistime,functionalisttranslationtheoryisrisingandgraduallydeepening.Inviewoftheweaklinksinthetranslationstudyschool,itwidelydrawslessonsfromcommunicationtheory,actiontheory,informationtheory,textlinguisticsandaestheticideas,andturnsitsresearchfocusfromthesourcetexttothetargetandtext,becomingthemostinfluentialandactiveschoolintheContemporaryGermantranslationstudyfield.2.2TheDevelopmentofFunctionalTranslationTheoryFunctionaltranslationtheoryoriginatedinGermanyinthe1970s.Itisaschoolwithskopostheoryasitscore,emphasizingproblemsandtranslationfunctions.HisemergencereflectstheoverallshiftofTranslation:fromtheoriginaldominantlinguisticschool'sformorientedtheviewoftranslationtoamorefunctionalandsocio-culturalone.Thisturnisduetoaseriesofresearchactivitiesincommunicationtheory,behaviortheory,discourselinguistics,discoursetheoryandreceptiontheoryinliteraryresearch.Theformationoffunctionaltranslationtheoryhasgonethroughtwostages.ThefirststageismarkedbyKatharinaReiss’possibilityandlimitationoftranslationcriticismpublishedin1971,whichputsforwardtherudimentoffunctionaltranslationtheory.Thesecondstageisthecoretheoryoffunctionaltranslationtheory:skopostheory.Inthethirdstage,onthebasisofVermeer’sskopostheory,JustaHolzMantarifurtherdevelopedfunctionaltranslationtheoryandputforwardtranslationbehaviortheory.AsoneofthemainadvocatesandintegratorsofGermanfunctionaltranslationtheory,ChristianNord,forthefirsttimeamongmanyGermanfunctionalscholars,systematicallyandcomprehensivelysummarizesvariousacademicideasoffunctionalisminEnglish,andexpoundscomplexacademictheoriesandtermsoffunctionalismwithsimpleandeasytounderstandlanguageandrichexamples.Shealsoputsforwardthetheoryoffunctionplusloyaltyintranslation.2.3Nord’sFunctionalTranslationTheoryAsarepresentativeofthesecondgenerationofGermanfunctionalschool,Nord’sviewoffunctionaltranslationismainlyinfluencedbyherteacherKatharinaReiss’stexttypology,andsheisveryloyaltoVermeer’sskopostheory.Onthebasisofpreviousstudies,shedevelopedherownuniquetheoryoffunctionaltranslation,thatis,functionplusloyalty.Fortheinterpretationoffunction,Nordputsforwardfourfunctions:referentialfunction,expressivefunction,appellativefunctionandphaticfunction(thisfunctionisaddedbyNord).TheclassificationofthisfunctionisexemplifiedbyKarlBunhler’sresearchmodel.Thereferentialfunctionindicatesthethingsandphenomenaintherealworld;theexpressivefunction(thefunctionofexpressingfeelings)expressestheattitudeorfeelingsofthetransmittertowardsthethingsorphenomenatobedealtwithinthetext;theappellativefunctionismainlytoarousethereceiver’sexperience,feeling,knowledgeandemotioninducethemtobetouchedinaspecialway;thephaticfunctionistoestablishaconnectionfirst,thenmaintaintheconnection,andfinallycompletetheconnection.However,inVermeer’sskopostheory,Nordhastworeservations:oneistheculturalparticularityofthetranslationmodel,theotheristherelationshipbetweenthetranslatorandtheoriginalauthor.AccordingtoNord,ifweblindlyadhereto“thepurposeoftranslationdeterminesthetranslationprocess”,oncethecommunicativepurposeofthetranslationiscontrarytotheoriginal,orcontrarytotheauthor’sintentionandview,theaboveprincipleswillbeunderstoodas“thepurposedeterminesthemeans”,oreven“themeanscanbeunscrupuloustoachievethepurpose”,andthepossibilityof“thepurpose”isunlimited.Therefore,Nordputsforwardanethicalconceptof“loyalty”andintroducesitintothefunctionalistmodel,thatis,theresponsibilityoftranslatorstothepartnersintranslationactivities.Nord’s“loyalty”enablesthetranslatortobeloyaltoboththesourcelanguageandthetargetlanguage,butitcan’tbeconfusedwiththeconceptoffaithfulness,becausefaithfulnessonlyrefertotherelationshipbetweentheoriginaltextandthetargetlanguage,whileloyaltyreferstorelationshipamongthetranslator,theoriginalauthor,thetargetaudienceandtheoriginatorofthetranslation.Nord’sconceptof“functionplusloyalty”wasfirstputforwardintheBookDiscourseAnalysisinTranslation.Atthattime,shemainlyfocusedonthetranslationtheoryofJustaHolz-Manttari.JustaHolz-Manttariregardsthetextasapuretooloftheactualcommunicativefunction,andbelievesthatitsintrinsicvalueiscompletelysubordinatetoitspurpose.Thetranslatoronlyneedstoberesponsibleforthepurposeenvironment,andthetargettextcanbecompletelyindependentoftheoriginaltext.Nordbelievesthatfreerewritingdoesnotbelongtothecategoryoftranslation,sosheputsforwardherownviewdirectly,“withouttheoriginal,therewillbenotranslation.”“Thetranslatorshallberesponsibleforboththeoriginalandthetranslationenvironment,thesender(orinitiator)oftheoriginalinformationandthetargetreader.”Shecalledthisresponsibility“loyalty”.Thecoreofthetraditionaltranslationtheoryisthatthetargettextmustbe“faithful”and“equivalent”totheoriginaltext,whichimpliestheunequalmasterandservantstatusbetweenthesourcetextandthetargettext,andbetweentheoriginalauthorandthetranslator.However,Nord’s“loyaltyprinciple”givestranslatorsmorefreedom.Comparedwiththestaticconceptof“loyaltyandequivalence”,itemphasizestheattitudeofrespectingthededicationofallpartiesinvolvedintranslation.PartⅢCaseStudyonTranslationVersions3.1AStudyatLexicalLevel例1：Benhadhisguitarandforawhileheplayedandwejustlistenedasthefiresparkedandthewavescrashedandsubsided.初译：本拿着他的吉他弹了一会儿，我们只是听着，此刻火冒出火花，海浪冲击沙滩后平息。改译：本拿着他的吉他弹了一会儿，我们只是听着，此刻火在熊熊燃烧，海浪冲击沙滩后哗哗地退去。Theoriginalmeaningof“sparked”is“冒火花”.Intranslation,accordingtoNord’sappellativefunction,itcanbetranslatedas“熊熊燃烧”.Becausetheuseofreduplicatedwordsandonomatopoeiacanenhancethesenseofimageandmakereadershaveacertainresonance,whichistheembodimentoftheappellativefunction,reflectingwhatthegroupofteenagerswerethinkingwhilelisteningtothesong,andtheseimpliedfeelingscanbeperceivedbythereceiver.Atthesametime,intermsofwordstructure,“熊熊燃烧”ismoreinlinewiththelanguagerhythmofChinese.TherearemanyduallanguagestructuresinChinese,andthefourcharactersarerhythmicinreading.Thesameistrueforthetranslationoftheword“subsided”.ThetranslationofthissentencereflectsNord’sprincipleofloyaltyandtheappellativefunctionintranslation,whichnotonlyconformstothelanguagestyleofthetargetlanguage,butalsomakesthetranslationmorevivid.例2:：Hestoodinfrontofme,towering,notevenahintofasmile,onlyworryandsadnessandsomethingvergingonpanic.初译：他站在我面前，高耸巍然，脸上没有一点笑容，只有担心和悲伤，带着几分恐慌。改译：他站在我面前，高耸巍然，脸上不挂一丝笑容，只有担心和悲伤，带着几分恐慌。“Ahintof”means“一点”,whichistranslatedinto“一丝”.Thissentencedescribesmygrandfather’sfacialexpressionafterheknewwhatIwasthinking.It’sserious.Atthesametime,itbringsasadatmosphere.Sointranslation，“一丝”canwellexpressthesefeelings,while“一点”canmakethesefeelingsappearalittlelight,unabletograsptheoverallstyleofthesentence.ThetranslationmainlyusesNord’sloyaltyandexpressivefunction,whichismoreconducivetoemotionalexpressionandreaders’understandingoftheoriginaltext.3.2AStudyatShortSentenceLevel例1：Ithinkaboutspring,grassandflowers,hoofprintsandmovementandabody,intact.初译：我想起春天，草和花，蹄印和运动和一个完整的身体。改译：我想起春天，绿草和鲜花，雄鹿在田野间行走时的情景以及留下的步步蹄印，那时候他的身体完好无缺。Thissentenceisasimpleone,madeupofmanynouns.Intheprocessoftranslation,ifthesentenceisonlytranslatedaccordingtothemeaningoftheword,thenforreaders,especiallyreadersfromdifferentculturalbackgrounds,theywillnotbeabletounderstandtheexactmeaningofthewordandtheimageandartisticconceptionthatthesentenceisintendedtoexpress.Forexample,“hoofprints”means“蹄印”and“movement”meansthenoun“运动”.Readerswillwonderabouttheword“movement”:whatkindofmovementisit?Whatexactlydoesmovementmean?AccordingtoNord’stheoryoffunctionaltranslation,itisnotdifficulttofindthatthecoreofitisfunctionplusloyalty,whichmeansthatthetranslatorneedstodealwiththerelationshipbetweentheoriginaltextandthetargettext,andclearlyknowwhatinformationorlanguageintheoriginaltextshouldbeadjustedaccordingtothetranslationintention.Nordbelievesthatloyaltyisnotaimedattheoriginaltext,butreferstorespectfortheoriginatorofthetranslationprocess,theoriginalauthor,theoriginalcultureandthetargetreaders.Thiskindofrespectnotonlymeanstoconveytheoriginalcontent,foreignculturalcolorandstyle,butalsoincludesthenecessarychallengestoachievetheexpectedfunctionofthetranslation,includingdeletionandevenrewriting,basedontheanalysisoftheoriginal.Therefore，whentranslatingtheword“movement”,accordingtothecontext,thetranslatorshouldinterpretitasthesceneofdeerwalkinginthefield.Atthesametime,forthesentencescomposedofvariousnouns,informationshouldbeaddedappropriatelytomakethearticlemorevividandcleartothereaders.例2：“Gettingcoldfeet?”初译：“脚冷了吗？”改译：“临阵退缩？”AccordingtotheprincipleofloyaltyinNord’stranslationtheory,thetranslatorshouldbefaithfultotheoriginaltext,andthissentenceappearsinthedialoguebetweenthetwopeople,sothetranslatorshouldcombinethecontext,notjustfromthesentenceitself.Atthesametime,thetranslatorisrequiredtohaveanunderstandingoftheculturalbackgroundofthesourcelanguageinordertobettertranslatetheoriginaltextintothetargetlanguage.Forexample,inthissentence,iftranslatorstranslateonlyaccordingtotheliteralmeaning,theywillonlygetatranslationthatcannotconnectwiththecontext.Duetoculturaldifferences,manysuchphrasesorsentenceswillappearintheprocessoftranslation.Translatorsneedtopursuethefaithfulnessoftranslationandtrytotranslatethemeaningoftheoriginaltextintothetargetlanguageaccurately.3.3AStudyatDifficultSentenceLevel例1：Wewereinnocentenoughtothinkthatourliveswerewhatwethoughttheywere,thatifwepiecedallofthefactsaboutourselvestogetherthey’dformanimagethatmadesense—thatlookedlikeuswhenwelookedinthemirror,thatlookedlikeourlivingroomsandourkitchensandthepeoplewhoraisedus—insteadofrevealingallthethingswedidn’tknow.初译：我们足够天真，可以认为生活只是我们想象的样子，但如果我们把自己的生活拼凑成一个个画面，他们就会形成一张有意义的图片：当我们照镜子的时候，看起来就像我们，看起来像我们的起居室、厨房和抚养我们的人，而不是揭示所有我们不知道的事情。改译：我们天真地认为生活只是我们想象的样子，但如果我们把自己的生活的点点滴滴拼凑在一起，他们就会形成一个有意义的画面：就像我们照镜子时看到的自己，仿佛看到了自己最为熟悉的客厅厨房，还有抚养我们长大的人们，而不是出现一些陌生的事物。TherearefivelongsentencesandphrasesaboutthatinthisEnglishparagraph,andtherearecomplexcompoundsentencesinthesentences.Itisagoodwaytotranslatethesentencessmoothlybyfindingoutthekeyinformationwiththeword“that”asthefrontandbackseparation.Thefirstthatleadstotheobjectclause,andtheotherfourthatleadstotheattributeclause.Findoutthekeyinformation“lives”and“image”ofthemeaninggroup.AddthesubjectconformingtotheChineselogicagain,andaddthemodifiertotheclausetoexpressitinacompletesentence.However,accordingtoNord’stheoryoffunctionandloyalty,inliterarytranslation,thetranslatorneedstomakenecessarydeletionoradditioninordertoachievetheexpectedpurposeoftranslationonthebasisoftheanalysisoftheoriginaltext.Justlikethetranslationofthelastsentenceinthetext,translatedas“不是出现一些陌生的事物”,itcanwellshowtheexpressivefunctionandappellativefunctioninNord’stranslationtheory,andthesefunctionscangivereadersameaningfulmeditation.Atthesametime,“enoughto”means“足够……可以……”,butifliterarytranslationiscarriedoutaccordingtoliteralmeaning,itwillnotonlyfailtoreflecttheeffectofsimplelanguageofliteraryworkstoexpressstrongfeelings,butalsonotconformtoChinesehabits,soitcanbedeletedwhentranslating,whichisinlinewithNord’sloyaltranslationtheory.Thetheorycanalsobeembodiedinthetranslationoftheword“facts”.“Facts”means“事实”.Obviously,itwillgivethereaderakindofillusionthatthemeaningisnotclear.What’smore,thepluralformoftheoriginaltextisused.Thentranslating“facts”into“点点滴滴”cannotonlymeettheneedsofitscontentbutalsomeetitsformalexpression.例2：Inthebeginninghertextswereknives,slicingholesinthecocoonofmotelmustanddinercoffeeandtheviewofthestreetoutmywindow.初译：一开始，她的短信像刀子一样在汽车旅馆、咖啡餐吧和我窗外的街景的蚕茧上割出一个个洞。改译：一开始，她的短信就像锋利的刀子毁灭着一切，划破汽车旅馆里积淀的尘衣，冲淡餐桌上的咖啡，还破坏了我窗外的街景。Whentranslatinglonganddifficultsentences,thefirstthingtodoistoanalyzethestructureofthesentenceandthecompositionofeachpart.Inthissentence,theword“slicing”isanonpredicateverbasanattribute,modifyingtheantecedent“knives”.Afterclarifyingthesentencestructure,thetranslatorneedstohaveadeepunderstandingofsomewords.Inthetext,wordssuchas“knives”and“slicing”areusedtomodifythefollowingnouns,whichisnotinlinewiththeChineseexpressionandisnotconducivetounderstanding.Therefore,adding“毁灭一切”tothetranslationplaysanintermediaryrole,andthenaddingappropriatepredicateverbstothefollowingthings.Atthesametime,becausethesentenceoriginatedfromliteraryworks,andthecharacteristicofliteraryworksisthatevensimplesentenceshavetheirowncharm,readerswillfeelhowpowerfultheexpressionfunctionofthesentenceisafterreadingit,whichmakespeoplehaveendlessaftertaste.Intranslation,thetranslatorshouldexpresstheartisticconceptioninthetargetlanguageaswell.ThetranslationisinlinewithNord’stheoryoffunctionplusloyalty.Inordertoachievetheexpectedpurposeoftranslation,itisnecessarytoaddordeleteonthebasisoftheoriginaltext.ConclusionThispapertakeschapter11andchapter12ofNinaLaCour’syoungadultnovelWeAreOkayastheresearchobject.BasedonNord’sfunctionaltranslationtheory,thispaperstartsfro