Taiyuan University of Technology
FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENCE AND TRANSLATION OF HUMOR IN O. HENRY’S
SHORT STORIES
A Thesis
Submitted to Graduate School and College of English
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
Degree of Master of Arts
by
Yang Xiaohua
Under the Supervision of Professor Liu Bing
June, 2011
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FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENCE AND TRANSLATION
OF HUMOR IN O. HENRY’S SHORT STORIES
ABSTRACT
Humor is pervasive in our life. It not only helps improve interpersonal relationships but also does good to psychological health. With the booming of translation activities in the 21st century, humor translation is drawing more and more scholars to explore the most appropriate approach to this subject.
Humor translating has been very difficult for translators and scholars, for achieving functional equivalence is not an easy task. In fact, it is difficult for the target readers to perceive the original humor by reading a translation, because the target audiences have various culture backgrounds which are greatly different in culture backgrounds of the source text audiences. They are not familiar with the linguistic features of the original text. This study is based on the classification of humor made by J. R. Schmitz (2002), namely, universal humor, culture-oriented humor and linguistics-oriented humor.
Different from traditional theories, Nida‟ functional equivalence theory come up with a
new criteria from another perspective. Instead of putting emphasis on the form of language, Nida believes that the focus should be put on the response of the audience in target countries, that is, the reaction of the translation on the target text audience should be the same as that on the original text audience. In order to achieve this effect, the translator is to find the most equivalent and natural counterpart in the target language for the intention of recreating the humorous effect. The application of Nida‟s functional equivalence theory to humor translation
is based on this theory. Therefore, in humor translation, the functional equivalence theory can be applicable as long as the functions of the humor are equally obtained between the original and target languages.
This thesis aims at adopting functional equivalence theory to analyze translation of humorous elements in O. Henry humor. The database for case study is from Selected Short
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Stories of O. Henry, and its Chinese versions. Adopting functional equivalence theory, the author tries to study how translators are capable of adopting functional equivalence theory in the original language and recreate it in the target language accurately or as accurately as possible, so as to achieve functional equivalence in translation through analysis of representative humorous elements in O. Henry‟s short stories and the translated versions. The
thesis aims at manifesting that functional equivalence is one of the standards for judging whether a translation of humorous elements is successful, and is the one of the ideals for translators to pursue when translating humorous elements.
Key words: O. Henry, humor, functional equivalence, method, evaluation
功能对等理论与欧亨利小说中幽默语言的翻译
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摘 要
幽默在日常生活中随处可见。它不仅有助于协调人际关系，而且有助于心理健康。在21世纪，随着翻译活动的繁荣发展，越来越多的学者都致力于幽默翻译的研究。
文学作品中幽默元素的翻译向来是比较难的，其难点就体现在如何实现功能对等，由于原语和译入语的文化背景，语言特征，幽默感等方面存在很大差异，译文读者往往缺少原文作者的背景知识，缺乏对原语语言特征的了解，从而导致原语幽默被翻译成译入语后很难被读者欣赏。本文的研究过程中，采用J. R. Schmitz (2002) 对幽默的分类，把幽默分成三类，即:普遍幽默，文化幽默，言语幽默。
不同于传统理论，奈达的功能对等理论为翻译从另一个视角设定了判断的标准。传统翻译理论更注重于从语言表现形式的角度进行翻译，而在奈达看来，读者对译文的回应才是翻译的重点，即在阅读时，译文读者对译文有着与原文读者同样的反应。这种翻译的效果的实现是要通过许多翻译方法并找到与原文最合适与自然的对等语言方可达到。这是功能对等理论在幽默翻译中得以运用的理论基础。
本文旨在以对等理论为基础，把奈达提出的“功能对等”的理论运用到欧.亨利小说的幽默元素的翻译实践中去，目的在于解释和阐述在幽默翻译中，译者如何实现“功能对等”。作者以欧.亨利的数篇短篇小说及其汉译版本为个案研究对象。
作者通过对汉译本中相应的翻译文本进行分析，应用功能对等理论, 研究译者如何使原文文本中的幽默语言的效果在译文文本中再现，更精确的说，如何实现源语言与译文文本的功能对等，旨在说明功能对等是衡量幽默元素翻译是否成功的标准之一，也是幽默元素翻译追求的目标之一。
关键词:欧?亨利，幽默，功能对等，翻译方法，评价
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CONTENTS
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................... i
摘 要 .................................................................................................................................... iii
Chapter One Introduction .............................................................................................. 1
1.1 Necessity of the Research .......................................................................................... 1
1.2 Purpose of the Thesis ................................................................................................. 1
1.3 Methodology ............................................................................................................. 1
1.4 An Overview of the Thesis ........................................................................................ 2 Chapter Two Humor and Previous Studies on Humor Translation ................................... 2
2.1 Origin ........................................................................................................................ 3
2.2 Definition of Humor .................................................................................................. 3
2.3 Classification of Humor ............................................................................................. 4
2.4 Previous Studies on Humor Translation ..................................................................... 5
2.4.1 Humor Is Untranslatable ......................................................................................... 6
2.4.2 Humor Is Translatable ............................................................................................ 7
2.4.3 Humor is Semi-translatable ..................................................................................... 8 Chapter 3 Functional Equivalence in Humor Translation ................................................. 8
3.1 Nida and His Definition of Translation ...................................................................... 9
3.2 Nida‟s theory of functional equivalence ................................................................... 10
3.2.1 Concepts of functional equivalence translations .................................................... 10
3.2.2 Two Different Levels of Functional Equivalence .................................................. 12
3.2.3 “Equivalence” in Functional Equivalence Theory ................................................. 13
3.2.4 The Application of Functional Equivalence in Humor Translation ........................ 14
3.2.5 The Feasibility of Functional Equivalence in Humor Translation .......................... 15 Chapter Four Types and Features of Humor ............................................................... 17
in O. Henry’s Short Stories ................................................................................................ 17
4.1 A Brief Introduction to O. Henry and His Short Stories ............................................ 17
4.2 Types of humor in O. Henry‟s short stories .............................................................. 19
4.2.1 Universal Humor .................................................................................................. 19
4.2.2 Cultural humor ..................................................................................................... 19
4.2.3 Linguistic Humor ................................................................................................. 20
4.3 Intentions of humor in O. Henry‟s short stories ........................................................ 25
4.3.1 Expression of the tragic content in a comic way .................................................... 25
4.3.2 Exposure of the virtues and evils of humanity in a comic way .............................. 26 Chapter Five Application of the Theory....................................................................... 27
in O. Henry’s Short Stories Humor Translation ............................................................... 27
5.1 Translation Methods Derived from Functional Equivalence ..................................... 27
5.1.1 Literal translation ................................................................................................. 28
5.1.2 Adaptation ............................................................................................................ 29
5.1.3 Literal translation with annotation ........................................................................ 29
5.1.4 Literal translation combined with adaptation......................................................... 30
5.2 Evaluation of humor in O. Henry‟s short stories....................................................... 31
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5.2.1 Evaluation of universal humor translation ............................................................. 31
5.2.2 Evaluation of cultural humor translation ............................................................... 33
5.2.3 Evaluation of linguistic humor translation ............................................................. 35 Chapter Six Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 42
6.1 Major Findings ........................................................................................................ 42
6.2 Limitations of the Present Study .............................................................................. 43
6.3 Suggestions for further studies ................................................................................. 44 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................................. 45
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... 48
PUBLISHED PAPERS....................................................................................................... 49
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Chapter One Introduction
1.1 Necessity of the Research
People‟s requirement for great humorist‟s works of good quality is improving gradually.
Therefore, humor translation has become an essential field of translation study and practice. However, the discussion of humor translation by the related expertise comes up with less mature results. No disciplines concluded in their study can give guidance for the general translation practice. So far there‟s no translation maxim that can serve as a forever rule of
humor translation. Yet fortunately, they have paved a way for our further study. Based on their discussions and conclusion, the author can make some detailed analysis in order to find out the most practical and flexible theory as a guidance for humor translation. It is expected to be a theory which can not only meet the special demands of humor, but also best suit the audiences‟ requirements.
Among the theories both at home and abroad, the author thinks that what best suits humor translation so far is Nida‟s functional equivalence theory which is regarded as a
translation yardstick to equate the target audiences‟ response with the original-language
audiences‟ response while perceiving a certain humor work. It has set a unique and innovative
thought for us. Therefore, it would make a point of analyzing the translation of O. Henry‟s
works systematically by using functional equivalence theory.
1.2 Purpose of the Thesis
This thesis aims to discuss the translation of humor in O. Henry‟s short stories within the framework of Nida‟s functional equivalence, and the analysis of this thesis is based on the classification of humor made by J. R. Schmitz (2002). According to his theory, humor can be divided into three types: 1) universal humor; 2) cultural humor; 3) linguistic humor.
In this thesis, the author shall draw examples of humor from The Selected Short Stories
of O. Henry (2008), and the Chinese versions of The Selected Short Stories of O. Henry
(1986), (1996), which are translated by Mr. Pan Mingyuan, Luo Dashi, Wang Zhongnian and Liu Jie whose renditions are very popular in China.
1.3 Methodology
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The data collection sources of humorous language are different, all from O. Henry‟s
well-known books. Taking functional equivalence theory as its theoretical framework, this thesis uses humorous language translation as a case study. It analyzes representative translation instances and concludes adequate approaches to translate humorous language of various types. The methods adopted in this study are mainly qualitative and analytical. With plenty of instances of humorous language, tentative translating strategies will be given in the light of functional equivalence.
1.4 An Overview of the Thesis
This thesis is divided into six chapters. Chapter one is the introduction of the paper including the necessity, purpose, methodology and structure of the thesis.
Chapter two gives a brief introduction on humor, involving origin, history, various types of definitions and classifications of humor from different angles.
Chapter three is devoted to a survey on functional equivalence theory and humor translation. It introduces the coming of functional equivalence theory, then presents some key concepts of the theory, and finally discusses its applicability to humor translation. In this part, much effort will be made to put the theory into practice, that is, to show how functional equivalence theory can be applied to instruct humor translation according to its different purposes.
Chapter four is a bout O. Henry and his short stories including the introduction of O. Henry, the humors types and the purpose of his short stories.
Chapter five, the core of this thesis, makes a detailed evaluation of the humor translation versions, which will show how the goal of translation affects the methods the translator adopts to conduct the translation.
The last chapter, serving as a conclusion, draws a conclusion about the finding of the significance of the functional equivalence theory in the field of humor translation, and gives a summary to the whole thesis in the hope of disclosing limitations and suggestions for further study of the present research.
Chapter Two Humor and Previous Studies on Humor Translation
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2.1 Origin
Word “humor” is transliterated from English word humor, which, in English, derives from Latin humor whose original meaning is body fluid. As hypothesized by Hippocratic, an ancient Greek doctor, the body fluid consists of four cardinal humors, they were blood, phlegm, choler (yellow bile), and melancholy (black bile). In each person, the various mixture of these humors determined his complexion or disposition and his mental and physical qualities. The first person who brought it to China by is Lin Yutang and as times went by, the word “humor” lost its original meaning and become widely acceptable in its present sense(
2.2 Definition of Humor
Before we start our study of humor and humor translation in detail, the first step is to get the definition of the key term “humor”.
To many people, the definition of humor is a tough and impossible mission. According to McGhee &Goldstein (1972) “There is still no agreement on how humor should be defined.
Nor is there agreement on how appreciation or comprehension should be determined.”
In spite of that, many scholars have given various definitions of humor from different perspectives. But there are no two scholars that have got the exactly same notion of humor as well as its scope.
In this thesis, the author tries to get the definitions in dictionaries about the general nature of humor.
According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (1995: 698), humor is
defined as: “the quality in something that makes it funny”, “the way that a particular person or
group finds certain things amusing”, and “the ability to understand and enjoy amusing
situations or to laugh at things.”
In Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (1997: 726) also defines the term “humor” as:
“quality of being amusing or comic”, “ability to appreciate things, situations or people that are
comic”, and “ability to be amused.”
As to Chinese dictionary The Contemporary Chinese Dictionary，(2005)humor means
something (usually talking and behavior) interesting and having deep meaning. That is to say, humor is supposed to satisfy two basic conditions: (1) funny or causing laugh; (2) having deep meaning or being thought-provoking.
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These definitions have just given us different views of humor and each of them just makes the essence of humor partly from one certain point of view. It is clear that humor is a complex issue which covers too many disciplines, and no one can be sure to present a perfect explanation of humor. Though we can not have a perfect definition, we have found something in common: the main aim of humor is to amuse people and make them laugh. As to author, the essential characteristics of humor remain the same: humor usually elicits laughter and present wit and wisdom.
2.3 Classification of Humor
Besides the different humor definitions, arguments on the categories of humor have been lasting for centuries. The classification of humor is also varied and countless because of various purposes and in many different ways. The author of this paper prefers Dr. Schmitz, John‟s (2002) categorization who differentiated three types of humorous writings: universal
humor, cultural humor and linguistic humor.
Universal humor, like what the name implies, refers to humorous incidents or situations which language acts as the recording device. It is usually based on the level of universal knowledge employed across cultures. For example: It usually makes amusing effect in most culture when a man acts or speaks just as a girl, or a hooligan pretends to be a gentleman. The amusement or funniness of a conversation or discourse can be appreciated by different audience of different countries, language, culture and no factors can lower comprehension of humor, because the similarities of different culture and language are shared by almost every ordinary people all over the world. One would appreciate humor as rapidly and thoroughly as an original audience do when such universal knowledge is violated in some way.
The only requirement of this kind of humor is that the audience should have universal knowledge, which is necessary and critical for the successful reception for the following humor.
Cultural humor refers to the humor related to information of cultural background such as tradition, history, social institutions and custom, etc. It usually exits in culture-based language, e.g. some well-known proverbs, proper nouns and idioms. Culture plays an essential role in terms of what and why to laugh and the reason of laugh is based on some established forms and cultural values which bring about production and expression of humor in some specific 精品文档
environment.
The key element to understand this kind of humor is that people must have the adequate background information about both the source cultures and target-language cultures.
Generally speaking, linguistic humor refers to the word play which derives from creative use of many linguistic factors and rhetorical devices such as phonetics, lexics and grammar, etc. for a witty or humorous effect. The writer can make amusing effect directly from the language itself by wisely use of rhetorical means such as oxymoron, wordplay, pun, and so on. Since this kind of humor is just based on the functions of language, it is very difficult and sometimes even impossible to get counterparts for the source text to reach the same effect in the target text. The key to perceive linguistic humor is just in the words themselves.
Though it seems that linguistic, cultural and universal humors are relatively independent, it can not be said that there are no relation among them three in practical use. Sometimes, cultural humor depends on linguistic humor, universal culture humor needs cultural background information, and similarly, the successful expression of linguistic humor also depends on the assistance of language or culture knowledge.
It is all acknowledged that humor can express laughter to the world. It is a popular phenomenon in human communication in every culture, language and societies and enriches both the language and culture of different countries. It is a worldwide treasure which should be shared by all the people in the world, so there should be no discrimination for a certain sex, class, and nation to enjoy this worldwide treasure.
2.4 Previous Studies on Humor Translation
There is a long history of humor study and most scholars and translators at home and abroad have been striving to discuss humor from the angle of art, psychology, literature, logic, biology, or linguistics. In this thesis, the author prefers to start the discussion of the relationship between humor and translation by addressing a debate which has dominated much of humor research from the angle of translation: Is humor translatable or not?
The translatability of humor has been discussed for a long time in the translation field. The definition of translatability, according to Baker, is “the capacity for some kinds of
meaning to be transferred from one language to another without undergoing radical change (Baker, 1998:273).” It lays stress on the transfer of the meaning of the source text into the 精品文档
target text. But different translation theories have different understanding of the concept “meaning”, so translatability itself has been remained as a relative and vague concept.
In practice, many scholars and translators have put forward their own ideas about the translatability of humor. In research, generally speaking, the author finds that there are some various views which can be divided into three categories.
2.4.1 Humor Is Untranslatable
In the past, quite a few translators and translation theories have reached a consensus on this issue that humor is untranslatable. The author has consulted a collection of papers and found that this view are showed by some statements, for example,
Jin Shaoyu believes that “the difficulties involved in humor translation are not less than
those involved in poetry translation, and sometimes it just can not be translated(Jin, 1984)”.
American writer Issac Bashevis Singer (an American writer) pointed out in a speech: “poetry and humor can hardly be translated(Han & Wen, 2003).”
French scholar R. Diot states that “humor translation can make a translator feel as
desperate as poetry translation does, and the true meaning of humor is beyond words (Zhou, 2006)”.
The three scholars all compare the difficulty involved in humor translation to that in poetry translation. In the view of traditional translation, the most difficult section in the translation field is poetry translation, so we can see how difficult it is in humor translation.
Zhang Guangming (2002) believed that the essence of difficulty in humorous language translation rests with the various sense of humor between the Western and Chinese people (West people are more humorous than Chinese people), cultural diversity, and translator‟s
disqualification in his conversancy original language.
From the views quoted above, we can see that sometimes the background information specifically belonging to a certain nation is usually a great influence to convey the humorous sense of a humorous text; therefore, when dealing with humor translation, translators have to face the big challenge from cultural barriers. Besides of this, sometimes, another challenge comes from linguistic barriers, for the witty use of words can make humor. Since neither cultural barriers nor linguistic barriers can be overcome easily, most translators and scholars hold a pessimistic attitude towards humor translation which is untranslatable. 精品文档
2.4.2 Humor Is Translatable
Although the view of untranslatability of verbal humor is prevailing in translation field, many scholars still hold a view with positive attitude and shed some light on humor translation.
Bergson differentiated the humor expressed by language from that created by language in 1928. Humor expressed by language could “be translated from one language into another,
though at the cost of losing the greater portion of its significance when introduced into a fresh society different in manners, in literature, and above all, in association of ideas”, while humor
created by language “is generally impossible to translate. It owes its entire being to the
structure of the sentence or the choice of the words. It does not set forth, only by means of language, special cases of absent-mindedness in man or in events. It lays stress on lapses of attention in language itself. In this case, it is language itself that becomes comic (Bergson, 1928: 103).” Bergson‟s statement makes a great contribution to the following research by drawing the line between translatability and untranslatability.
Domestic researchers have also deliberated and discussed deeply on this point. In Mao Ronggui (1992: 56)‟s point of view, humor can be divided into situational and non-situational ones. He also listed three causes of translation problems: humor created by the sound and spelling of the word itself; humor involving cultural background; and the humor related to subtle mechanism of language working. For him, there are two solutions that can solve the problems in humor translation: compensation and annotation. Although unsystematic, these solutions he comes up with stand the test of time so far.
It is often agreed that successful translation involves recreating in the target language those features of the source language that are relevant for the text to function for a certain propose (Kussmaul, 1995: 90). All the practical purpose of a humorous text is always the same: to evoke laughter. Humor translation should recreate the same influence on the target language audience in a maximally similar way as the source text did for the original language audience, even if the source text is altered substantially in the process of achieving the humorous effect. To get a balance between limits of source language and requirements of target language, translators are “engaged in what could be compared to an exercise in
tightrope walking, in that the immediacy of effect can easily be lost (Jaskanen, 1999: 31).”
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As to humor translation, so long as the translator manages to produce corresponding humorous effect on target text readers as the source text on the readers do, difficulties involved in humor translation can be tackled.
Nowadays, translators find that although humor is considered to be translatable, difficulties involved in humor translation process are hard to tackle. Gradually, a more practical attitude comes to scholars. It is trying to adopt various devices to solve various kinds of humor.
2.4.3 Humor is Semi-translatable
John Catford holds that “translatability is a cline, not a dichotomy. The source texts and
the language units are more or less translatable, not absolutely translatable or untranslatable (Ouyang, 2002)”.
And “Bergson divides humor into two kinds: one is expressed by language, which is
translatable; the other is about language itself which is untranslatable (1v, 2007) .”
The author thinks translatability is an indicator that displays to what an extent a certain source text can be translated. If an original text is considered to be translatable, the translator can make it into a target text up to a certain criteria, and if an original text is considered to be untranslatable, the translator will face difficulties that are hard to tackle when producing a target text which can meet certain translation criteria. So the translatability is not an absolute concept but a relative one.
Chapter 3 Functional Equivalence in Humor Translation
An equivalent refers to a word or phrase which has exactly the same counterpart in the source text. The definition is not a rather clear and explicit one, because it is universally accepted that there are no two exact things in the world, so for all the translators, the linguistic fact is that a version exactly equivalent to the original can never be obtained. Thus, in translating, what a translator seeks should be the closest possible equivalent rather than absolute or complete equivalent. In this chapter, Nida‟s functional equivalence theory is to be
discussed.
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3.1 Nida and His Definition of Translation
Eugene Nida has been a pioneer in the translation theory and linguistics fields. Dynamic Equivalence, also known as Functional Equivalence stands for his most notable and most influential contribution to translation theory. This translation approach aims to reproduce the purpose of the original text instead of the actual words of the original in the translation. Though there had been numerous and various traditional translation theories, Eugene Nida come up with his new translation theory. In his opinion, He held that translation is a process of communication during which its audience receive the intended information of a translation. Therefore, he put forward a clear statement of his definition of translation
“Translation consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style(Nida, 1982:12). ” The explanation above give a manifestation of many key elements: reproducing the message, natural equivalence and closest equivalence are taken the first and the meaning and the importance of style the second. Eugene Nida uses “equivalence” instead
of “identity” to describe the reproduction of message. “Equivalent” points to the original language. A successful translation not only takes equivalence as its aim and what is more, as its requirement. A translator should meet the requisition of equivalence to produce a faithful translated text without too much freedom in the translating process. As to Eugene Nida, equivalence must be the natural and closest equivalence. “Natural” points to the receptor
language. It requires that the translated language should have to be as native as the source text. The “closest” equivalence includes the equivalence of meaning and style (Nida, 1982:13).
Many people pay almost all attention to the stylistic qualities of the source text but neglect its intended meaning while some other people try to express the author‟s intended
meaning at the expense of the importance of style.
However, in Eugene Nida‟s definition, he said “reproducing in the receptor language the
closest natural equivalent of the source-language message, first in terms of meaning, and secondly in terms of style(Nida, 1982:12).” It is clearly put the meaning and the style of a
translation process in a conflict condition. From the mentioned information above, Eugene Nida prefers meaning to style, or form. The translator should make great efforts to keep the meaning of the source text while changing the styles in some condition to ensure the 精品文档
equivalent effect
Of course, this theory is on the basis of a law that there are no two languages totally as same as each other. A qualified translator should not pursue the perfect effect of meaning or content of the original text at the cost of the form or style of the text, because it may make a commonplace and flat translation without the attraction and flavor of the source text which prevents the target text reader to perceive sufficient cultural and aesthetical values.
So we can arrive at a conclusion that in any excellent translation, style and form are also important factors and all experienced translators should take both the meaning and style of a source text into full account, for if they put style apart from meaning, the target text readers could not know the meaning because of the complete absence of style in the process of translation. In other words, no translator can ignore the aspect of style totally if they want get harmony between the original and the target message.
3.2 Nida’s theory of functional equivalence
3.2.1 Concepts of functional equivalence translations
In 1969, Nida put forward an explicit definition of “dynamic equivalence”. Dynamic
equivalence is defined as in terms of the degree to which the receptors of the message in the receptor language respond to it in substantially the same manner as the receptors in the source language. (Nida 1969:24) In terms of “dynamic equivalence”, Nida stated that dynamic
equivalence is based on the principle of equivalent effect, where the relationship between the receptor and the message should be substantially the same as that which existed between the original receptors and the message. Nida held that the translated text should produce a response in a reader in today‟s culture that is essentially like the the original receptors‟
response, if not, he suggested that changes be made to match the initial response.
Later, in 1993, he published his book Language, Culture and Translating in which he
replaced the expression “dynamic equivalence” by “functional equivalence”. However,
according to Nida himself, there is no essential difference between the two expressions. Nida stated that “in general it is best to speak of „functional equivalence‟ in terms of a range of
adequacy, since no translation is ever completely equivalent(Nida 2001:91).” He claimed that
“ equivalence cannot be understood in its mathematical meaning of identity, but only in terms of proximity, i.e. on the basis of degrees of closeness to functional identity(Nida 2001:87). ”
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In his opinion, functional equivalence is a term which is more scientific and flexible than dynamic equivalence. Functional equivalence plays a crucial role in pointing the road away from strict word-for-word equivalence. The introduction of the concepts of formal and dynamic equivalence is important in introducing a receptor-oriented view to translation studies.
In essence, a translator can not obtain a satisfactory effect of functional equivalent in translation merely through simplifying the grammar and restricting the number of words in a vocabulary. First of all, a translator should consider all the factors involved in the communication, and produce various substitute translating, especially of complex passages, then make a test of whether it is accepted and perceived by the target receptors.
First, a translator can produce effectively a functional equivalent translation only on the condition that he has a profound comprehension of all the factors which assist him with perceiving and expressing the meaning of the original and target language text. That is to say, to produce the intended meaning of the author, a translator must understand both the various cultural or linguistic features of a text and the capacity and motivation of target receivers as well. So, a translator should be constantly aware of all the factors and try to reflect them in the target text, and then he may achieve a functional equivalence in translation.
Secondly, a translator should recognize the fact that when faced with a complex passage which could be expressed in many natural ways to transform a source language sentence to the target language one, he must choose the closest and most natural one. Now we can come to a conclusion that translating is just a process of choosing the best rendering among various alternatives. Some may be relatively literal, others quite free, and some may be somewhat in between. When making choice among one or another alternative, a sophisticated translator must take the following factor into consideration:
1. Faithfulness to the content of the original language text
2. The function of style in the source language
3. The comprehension of the target audience no matter what their profession and background are and to what an extent they are educated.
4. The environment the language is to be employed
Thirdly, a translator should constantly hold in mind of whether the target audience could 精品文档
accept and comprehend his translation. While translating, some of the most outstanding translators take full account of the match of words and syntax as well as make great efforts to ensure that the target readers can decode his translation correctly and the aim of translation is obtained by making a imagination of facing a intended audience and put himself in the shoes of the potential audience. Then the translator could make his or her translation more natural for the target readers.
In Nida‟s point of view, translating is a process of delivering information between different cultures and languages, so when evaluating a translation work, a translator should focus on how to express the intended meaning
That is why Nida believed in the importance of endeavor to translate the meaning of the original text in such a way that the target language text would produce the same impact on its readership just as that the original version has on its audience.
Meaning here means a totality, including meanings of morphemes, words, how words are linked with each other (syntax), words in different contexts and situations (pragmatics), etc. Nida attached great importance to the message of the target language text, that is, the semantic dimension of the translated version. He called for painstaking efforts in the target text. Hence a functional equivalence can be described as “the closet natural equivalence to the source
language message (Nida 1964:166).”
3.2.2 Two Different Levels of Functional Equivalence
Nida believed that there is no translation that can be absolutely equivalent, thus there is no identical response between target language readers and original language readers, functional equivalence is discussed in terms of a range of adequacy. Different degrees of equivalence are produced in numerous different versions translations. So we can not comprehend equivalence in terms of its mathematical meaning of identity, but only in terms of proximity. In other words, it is based on the degrees of closeness to functional identity.
Nida present the definition of functional equivalence from the view of multiple levels from minimal to maximal effectiveness on the basis of both experiential and cognitive factors.
Nida come up with the minimal definition of functional equivalence as “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 (Nida 2001:87).”
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Nida come up with the maximal definition of functional equivalence as “The readers of a
translated text should be able to understand and appreciate it in essentially the same manner as the original readers did (Nida 2001:87).”
The flexibility of functional equivalence is manifested in the division of the two levels of functional equivalence. As to Nida (2001), no translation can be accepted under the minimal degree of equivalence, for no absolute equivalence exists, so translators can only approach it rather than achieve it. For translators, the maximal definition is only an ideal. Of course, every translator is trying to approaching to the maximal level closer and closer constantly. Nida‟s
two levels of functional equivalence are like an ideal practical equivalence and a functional equivalence that provide us with a clear idea and a hard goal we endeavor to obtain in translation process. There is a practical significance in translation practice. 3.2.3 “Equivalence” in Functional Equivalence Theory
In English, the meaning of “equivalence” is very explicit which means “state or quality
of being equivalent (A S Hornby, 1997:486)”. While In Chinese, the meaning of
“equivalence” is not definite and may be “questioned” having the meaning of “symmetric”.
“Translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of source-language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style” (Nida,
1969:12). This statement was made by Nida when discussing the nature of translation. In the statement, two things play the most important role, one is “original language message” and
the other one is “reproducing”. Equivalence in “functional equivalence” theory means to
reproduce the information expressed in the original language rather than produce the closest natural equivalent of the original language. Besides of this, Nida states that “the translator
must strive for equivalence rather than identity. In a sense, this is just another way of emphasizing the reproducing of the message rather than the conservation of the form of the utterance... (Nida, 1969:12)”
In Nida‟s view of form and structure equivalence, he emphasizesd that the message in the target language should closely but not totally match the content and form of the source language. He indicates that “the message in the language...to reproduce as literally and
meaningfully as possible the form and content of the original (Nida, 1964:159).” It is clear
that the state of being “absolutely equivalent” or “absolutely symmetric” can never have
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something to do with “functional equivalence” theory. In addition, Nida also held that
“absolute equivalence in translating is never possible (Nida, 1984:14).” In a successful
translation process, a translator should never aim at reaching “absolute equivalence” in terms
of the “functional equivalence” theory. The only guidance and criterion taken in their
translation should be a “relative equivalence”.
3.2.4 The Application of Functional Equivalence in Humor Translation
In the section above, the major definition of functional equivalence has been analyzed in detail. From the previous study, we have drawn a conclusion that for humor translation, functional equivalence is an applicable theory. In the following part, two bases for the application of functional equivalence to humor translation will be further discussed. 3.2.4.1 Pragmatic Equivalence in Humor Translation
Basically pragmatics is a study of meaning. As to pragmatics, in the course of communication, meaning can be delivered. There are two levels of context in humor translation: verbal context and non-verbal context which can be further divided into situation context and culture context, as to the anthropologist B K.Malinowski. Halliday also further explains the term: “He (Malinowski) understood that a text written by these people into this
language could not be understood by any foreigners or by people living outside this society even if translated into their own languages because each message brought more meanings than those expressed through the words, meanings that could only be understood if accompanied by the situation.” Therefore, the conception of context of situation, meaning by this the “environment of the text” is presented by Malinowski (Halliday, 1989:6).
Pragmatic equivalence of humor translation demands the precise reproduce of a humorous expression in its source context, the reproduce of that expression in another and usually an quite another linguistic and cultural environment. An excellent rendering of a humorous expression should deliver the purpose of the source humorous information and reproduce an equivalent amusing and jestful response.
3.2.4.2 Stylistic Equivalence in Humor Translation
We have discussed and analyzed pragmatic equivalence in detail in the part above, and this section we will discuss the application of stylistic equivalence in humor translation. Different styles exist in different kind of works. As to Nida,“.....the target language receptors
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must not only know how the original receptors must have understood the context, but they should also be able to appreciate some of the impact and appeal which such a text must have of the original receptors (Nida &Jin Di, 1984:85).”
Humorous language is no exception. So an experienced translator should not neglect the transfer of style to the target text. Then, the first question taken to our consideration is what style is. Baldick once stated that style is “any specific way of using language, which is
characteristic of an author, school, period, or genre. Particular styles may be defined by their diction, syntax, imagery, rhythm, and use of figures, or by any other linguistic feature. (Baldick, 2000:214). ” Therefore, Style is always a unique character of a writer, sometimes, even a nation which can be comprehended, and in the process of translation, translators should pay much attention to it.
As to humor translation, in translating process, a sophisticated translator should make great efforts to maintain the characteristics of the source language which can deliver the original pleasurable flavor and appeal to the target language audience just as that to the source language audience. However, the styles of humor are different in different culture and linguistic environments in colloquial ones and formal ones. For instance, to Chinese, topics of joke concerning politics and death are tended to be avoided, while jokes about politics are common to American because of their open-minded character.
3.2.5 The Feasibility of Functional Equivalence in Humor Translation
Traditionally, the standard of a successful translation is whether its lexicon and grammar between the original and target languages are in full accordance with each other. But in humor translation, literal translation is usually not a proper approach to attain the aim of accordance because of the more factors involved which hinder the delivery of humorous impact on the target receptors. Nida presented some good views in his theory as instructive approaches in humor translation.
First, this theory provides a new point of view from the perception of the target audience in evaluation of the quality of translation. The definition of “natural” in this theory is not the
translator‟ own comprehension but the understanding of the target audience. The basic criterion to judge whether the translation is adequate is the acceptability of the target audience. That is to say, only when the target audience can smile or laugh as the original audience does, 精品文档
the translation is an efficient one, and the theory has brought great significance in humor translation and can stand the test of practice.
Secondly, in Nida‟s theory, stylistic equivalence also has great significance in humor
translation and should not be neglected. It is all acknowledged that style is an integral part of the process of interlingual communication. It is related to meaning closely for it is built from the very first beginning of a text and presents the aesthetic and spirit character of the original text. Though there are many factors involved in a translation process such as the difference among oral language, written language and many other various styles of various characteristic, it is quite essential to take style carefully into full consideration because of its necessity in delivering humorous effect.
Lastly, the definition of functional equivalence emphasizes the impossibility of absolute equivalence by “closest equivalence” for translators should consider the languages and
cultures difference in various environments in translation process. Though from the perspective of mathematic meaning of identity, equivalence can not be reached but just approached; translators should endeavor to produce the closest functional equivalence. It is an objective definition since there are too many complicated factors that make up a language, so the introduction of the concept of maxims is essential in the evaluation of adequacy of humor translation.
It is of great significance of the application of functional equivalence translation as to humor translation itself. As is mentioned previously, humor is a kind of communicative activity which elicits immediate laughter and achieves humorous effect in the receptor, if it is not successful in doing so; the translation is just a failure. However, the difference between cultures and language poses an obstacle to target readers to perceive and enjoy humor in original text. Faced with the tough task, the humor translators should first understand humor in original text and then deliver the humorous impact on the target audience and make the two versions functionally equivalent, in other words, amuse receptors when they read the joke.
Functional equivalence prefers the function and purpose of translation to the traditional translation criterion which focuses on loyalty to source text. This is in line with humor translation which intends to make target readers laugh, and to create a harmonious and comfortable atmosphere among them. It is can not always be easy to reproduce in target text 精品文档
when translators deal with humor involving lexical devices or cultural background.
Chapter Four Types and Features of Humor
in O. Henry’s Short Stories
4.1 A Brief Introduction to O. Henry and His Short Stories
“His books have sold literally by the millions throughout the world....He has been
translated into French, German, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Dano-Norwegian, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian. As much of his work is still read, the really fine stories should become a permanent addition to American literature. In them O. Henry not only widened the experience of his readers, he restated the verities which exist wherever people continue to strive for truth and beauty in life... (Hudson 136-37)”
—— Long, E. Hudson. O. Henry, the Man and His Work. Philadelphia: U of
Pennsylvania P, 1949.
O. Henry is one of the most famous and beloved writer who is so familiar not only to the American people, but also to readers worldwide, and is ranked as one of the “Greatest three
masters of short stories in the world”.
In the United States, O. Henry once drew much attention of both literary critics and readers. People set a prestigious short story prizes in America which is named O. Henry Award and an O. Henry Museum in Austin, Texas in memory of him. Generations of people 精品文档
enjoy reading O. Henry‟s amazing stories. Though O. Henry‟s short stories have long enjoyed
a good reputation, there are still very controversial opinions about his writings, especially his humor and his unexpected endings, which seemed to be overused. For example, Voss commented in The American Short Story: A Critical Survey that:
“His manner is usually that of the garrulous taleteller, and his style is almost invariably
breezy, flippant, and slangy, with puns, malapropisms, and big words used for humorous effect. His stories are liberally sprinkled with asides in which he addresses the reader in a familiar and chatty tone. Literary allusions, often made facetiously, are common, and there are many references to other writers..... (Voss, 1973, p. 122-23)” Various kinds of comments
scatter in literary criticism works or in introductions of O. Henry, but monographs on him are rarely seen.
In China, nearly all books and monographs about American literature made reference to O. Henry. O. Henry‟s “ingenious, humorous, mellow, ironic,” style and the “O. Henry‟s
technique” is marked by humorous language, vivid plots, frequent coincidences and surprising endings.
Ruan Wenling‟s Going into the Maze-the Artistic World of O. Henry, published in 1997,
is the only monographic book on O. Henry so far. It mainly emphasizes on the themes and writing techniques of O. Henry‟s works. Other articles concerned with O. Henry‟s stories
from various perspectives scatter in many academic periodicals. But research about the humor translation of O. Henry‟s works is infrequent. This paper aims at exploring the translation of humor in O. Henry‟s short stories from the perspective of functional equivalence, hoping that it can give a new perspective for studying of O. Henry.
In the following chapter, the author shall draw examples of humor from O. Henry‟s short
stories and its Chinese translation versions, mainly from the following stories: “The Cop and
the Anthem”, “The Gift of the Magi”, “A Cosmopolite in a Cafe”, “The Furnished Room”,
“A Service of Love”, “The Romance of a Busy Broker” and “Mammon and the Archer.” The
author will analyze the excellent points and problems or limitations in translation from perspective of functional equivalence theory, and try to offer a solution which, hopefully, can assist in making the target text as humorous to the target readers as the original text to the original readers.
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4.2 Types of humor in O. Henry’s short stories
In this part, the author would like give some examples in O. Henry‟s short stories to
illustrate various translation approaches to various humors according to the functional equivalence theory. Just as mentioned above, in J. R. Schmitz (2002)‟ point of view, humor
can be further divided into universal humor, cultural humor, and linguistic humor. Here the author employs Schmitz‟s theory to discuss the translation approaches to the three kinds respectively.
4.2.1 Universal Humor
Universal humor is a kind of humor which is intelligible to anyone and easily transferable from one language or culture to another. This kind of humor is usually based on the universal knowledge of its audience.
Here are some examples from the works of O. Henry:
(1)“To the door of this, the twelfth house whose bell he had rung,
came a housekeeper who made him think of an unwholesome, surfeited
worm that had eaten its nut to a hollow shell and now sought to fill the
vacancy with edible lodgers.” (The Furnished Room)
This paragraph describes the feeling that occurs to a young man who is looking for his lost lover when he met the housekeeper who is eager to rent out her house. In the young man‟s
eyes, the housekeeper is just like “a worm that had eaten its nut to a hollow shell and now sought to fill the vacancy with edible lodgers.” O. Henry uses many adjectives such as
“unwholesome”, “surfeited” to arouse an amusing image of a greedy housekeeper.
(2)There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby
little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral
reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles
predominating? (The Gift of the Magi)
In the second paragraph, O. Henry adopt a series of noun such as “sobs”, “sniffles”,
“smiles” and what is the most important, a verb “predominate” in the end to give us a vivid
picture of the poverty-stricken life of hostess Della. Those descriptions could easily expression a sense of humor to the readers
4.2.2 Cultural humor
Cultural humor is a kind of humor which always requires culture-related knowledge to 精品文档
understand and appreciate. It is usually based on specific culture background of the source language, and specific culture to one nation usually means a cultural shock for other nations.
The following illustrations are from the works of O. Henry:
(1) My meditations were interrupted by a tremendous noise and
conflict in another part of the cafe. I saw above the heads of the seated
patrons E. Rushmore Coglan and a stranger to me engaged in terrific
battle. They fought between the tables like Titans, and glasses crashed,
and men caught their hats up and were knocked down, and a brunette
Teasing”A Cosmopolite in a screamed, and a blonde began to sing “(
Cafe )
The readers can only perceive the humor when they know the noun “Titans” that refers
to any of a family of giants, the children of Llranus and Gaea who sought to rule heaven and were overthrown and supplanted by the family of Zeus. O. Henry compares the battle between E. Rushmore Coglan and a stranger as a battle between two giants to describe the violent scene in an amusing way.
(2) Disconsolate, Soapy ceased his unavailing racket. Would never
a policeman lay hands on him? In his fancy the Island seemed an
unattainable Arcadia. He buttoned his thin coat against the chilling wind.
(The Cop and the Anthem)
In this paragraph, tramp Soapy has been trying to break law because the only way for him is to be put in prison where he can spend the cold winter. As far as Soapy is concerned, the prison on Blackwell Island is just a paradise for him. So O. Henry compares the prison to Arcadia, a mountainous district in the Peloponnese of southern Greece. In poetic fantasy it represents a pastoral paradise, and in Greek mythology it is the home of Pan to present Soapy‟s searing desire to go back to prison. The humor delivered by a sharp contrast can only be understood by foreign people if they know what the noun Arcadia refers to. 4.2.3 Linguistic Humor
Generally speaking, linguistic humor is produced by linguistic devices, rhetorical devices and so on. This section will study linguistic humor in O. Henry‟s short stories from the lexical,
syntactic and rhetorical perspectives.
4.2.3.1 At the lexical level
O. Henry is a master in employing all kinds of lexical devices to produce humor. In this part, the discussion will focus on O. Henry‟s humor at the level of lexical expression.
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(1) But as Soapy set foot inside the restaurant door the head
waiter‟s eye fell upon his frayed trousers and decadent shoes. Strong
and ready hands turned him about and conveyed him in silence and
haste to the sidewalk and averted the ignoble fate of the menaced
mallard. (The Cop and the Anthem)
The verb “convey” is usually used in delivery of goods. In this paragraph, the clerk of the restaurant finds that Soapy is just a penniless vagrant and drives him away rudely in the way they throw away rubbish or something of no value. O. Henry employs such a verb to imply the miserable life of Soapy and the snobbish and ruthless nature of the society in a humorous way.
(2)Arrest seemed but a rosy dream. (The Cop and the Anthem)
In this sentence, word “rosy” is a positive adjective that presages good fortune and
reflects optimism. However, the rosy dream for Soapy is arrest. The special application of this word has a profound implication. To Soapy, being arrested can bring him to prison where he will not suffer hunger, coldness and helplessness. When reading the sentence, the readers will feel the humorous sense and laugh in tears.
(3)The refined and elegant appearance of his victim and the
contiguity of the conscientious cop encouraged him to believe that he
would soon feel the pleasant official clutch upon his arm that would
ensure his winter quarters of the right little, tight little isle. (The Cop
and the Anthem)
In this example, people can not be amused only by the literal meaning. The refined, elegant girl turns out to be prostitute and the conscientious cop is totally indifferent to the prostitution before him in the street. Sophy falls into great disappointment again, all the positive adjective words here are key factors that reveal the hypocritical society and help to create humorous effect.
4.2.3.2 At the syntactic level
Humor in O. Henry‟s short stories is also demonstrated in the syntax. Through the
deliberate syntactic arrangement, humor is produced. For example:
(1) Swift and Comprehensive is the recognition of white man for
white man in African wilds; instant and sure is the spiritual greeting
between mother and babe; unhesitatingly do master and dog commune
across the slight gulf between animal and man; immeasurably quick and
sapient are the brief messages between one and one‟s beloved. But all
these instances set forth only slow and groping interchange of sympathy 精品文档
and thought beside one other instance which the Rubberneck coach
shall disclose. (Sisters of the Golden Circle)
From the above example it is found that the first sentence consists of four inversions without the use of coordinating or subordinating conjunctions. O. Henry uses the juxtaposition of inversions to show how swift the interchange of sympathy and thought is. All the breathtaking narration only foreshadows the development of the plot and makes a sharp contrast with the speed of the interchange between two sisters. O. Henry employs this special syntactic structure to create humor in this story.
4.2.3.3 At the rhetorical level
In O. Henry‟s short stories, he adopted lots of rhetorical devices to create linguistic humor which will be explored in detail in this section part.
In recent years, many studies have paid attention to the figurative meaning of the punch line, such as the embellishment of simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole and so on in the exploration of linguistic humor. Hu Fanzhu (1987) claims that linguistic structures of humorous discourse have two levels: One is the deep structure explained by the three linguistic-psychological mechanisms he summarizes, and the other is the surface structure explained by six broad categories of figures of speech, which is the most important matter in a study of mechanisms of linguistic humor. Mao Ronggui (1993) identifies both figure-of-speech and non-figure-of-speech humor within the surface structure and makes detailed analysis on English humorous language by means of rhetorical devices, which much enlightens the inspiration of this part of study.
Simile
In O. Henry‟s short stories, he frequently applies simile as an important device to produce humorous effect easily by explicit comparison between two unlike things. The following are some examples extracted from O. Henry‟s short stories.
1)Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the (
scent of quail. His eyes were fixed upon Della, and there was an
expression in them that she could not read, and it terrified her. It was not
anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the
sentiments that she had been prepared for. He simply stared at her
fixedly with that peculiar expression on his face. (The Gift of the Magi)
(2)But she hugged them to her bosom, and at length she was able
to look up with dim eyes and a smile and say: "My hair grows so fast, 精品文档
Jim!" And then Della leaped up like a little singed cat and cried, “Oh,
oh!” (The Gift of the Magi)
To buy a present for each other before the coming of Christmas, Della sold her beautiful hair to get a platinum fob chain to match Jim‟s gold watch while Jim provided Della with a set
of combs which Della craved and yearned at the cost of his most precious gold watch. The first paragraph represents Jim‟s astonishment when he finds that Della has her long hair cut which means that the expensive combs are no longer useful for her. So he stands still and seems to fall into a condition of stupefaction, to readers, before they know the result, his reaction is illogical and against our common knowledge as well. From this simile readers can feel a sense of bitter humor.
In paragraph two, Della also finds the coincidence which brings her intensive joy and pity. To comfort and encourage Jim and herself, she wants to show the gift for Jim
Similes in O. Henry‟s short stories are used extensively. On reading such humorous
expressions readers can‟t help laughing. Here are some other classic examples of simile.
(3) Neatly upon his left ear on the callous pavement two waiters
pitched Soapy. He arose, joint by joint, as a carpenter‟s rule opens, and
beat the dust from his clothes. Arrest seemed but a rosy dream. (The
Cop and the Anthem)
(4) “Now, get busy and call a cop,” said Soapy. “And don‟t keep a
gentleman waiting.”
“No cop for youse,” said the waiter, with a voice like butter cakes
and an eye like the cherry in a Manhattan cocktail. “Hey, Con!” (The
Cop and the Anthem)
Metaphor
Metaphor is a figure of speech which refers to a comparison between unlike things without the use of “like” or “as”. This comparison is done between two things that are
basically different but have something in common in some significant way. Metaphor requires greater ability of the reader to perceive the hidden association, the insight into persons, things or ideas that is implied. In O. Henry’s writings, metaphor is another feature which is worth
mention.
(1)Strong and ready hands turned him about and conveyed him in
silence and haste to the sidewalk and averted the ignoble fate of the
menaced mallard. (The Cop and the Anthem)
Readers are amused by the metaphor, for we know that the aim for Sophy to come to the restaurant and having a fine dinner without paying is just waiting the clerk to call a cop who 精品文档
can bring him back to the prison where he can spend the cold winter. But to his disappointment, the clerks just throw him out and he falls in despair once again. From this metaphor readers can imagine the frustration of Sophy which delivers a sense of bitter humor
(2)The thought brought a little of panic upon it, and when he came
upon another policeman lounging grandly in front of a transplendent
theatre he caught at the immediate straw of “disorderly conduct.” (The
Cop and the Anthem)
As for Sophy, The winter is coming and he is going to suffer more and more in the cold world. The bench in the park is no longer a comfortable place to sleep and the assured bed and board in prison are of great attraction for him at present. In his point of view, the best way to get to the prison is being arrested. Thus, he ties to make something illegal to make himself arrested to come to his “good fortune”. So after a few failures to be captured, the sight of
another policeman brings hope to Sophy once again. “Disorderly conduct” here is another
chance for him.
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a good way to achieve various literary effects. It is an exaggerated statement that is made for special effect and is not meant to be taken literally. Henry is a master in using this rhetorical device. Some examples extracted from his works are given below.
(1) Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer
and the vegetable man and the butcher until one‟s cheeks burned with
the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing imp lied. (The
Gift of the Magi)
The original meaning of “bulldoze”is a negative verb which means to force, and bully
others to get benefit. Hyperbole adopted in this paragraph presents readers with an image of the difficult living dealt by Jim and Della who have to save every penny to support their live.
(2) On the sidewalk Soapy began to yell drunken gibberish at the
top of his harsh voice. He danced, howled, raved, and otherwise
disturbed the welkin. (The Cop and the Anthem)
Though exhausted, another idea occurs to Sophy when he have the sight of a policeman, he does anything nosing and mad which “disturbed the welkin”, hoping that the policeman
will arrest him in the name of disorderly conduct. “Disturbed the welkin” is applied and
humor is produced here when the readers have the imagination of Sophy‟s funny behavior.
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(3) For there drifted out to Soapy‟s ears sweet music that caught
and held him transfixed against the convolutions of the iron fence. (The
Cop and the Anthem)
Frustrated, Sophy gives up his endeavor to be captured by policemen who can help him back to prison when it‟s getting darker and darker. When he passes by an old church, he hears sweet music drifts out. The music is so attractive that Sophy is totally immersed in it. In this example, O. Henry applies a verb “transfix” as an exaggeration to present how fair the anthem
is to produce humor in this paragraph.
Personification
Personification is a figure of speech (generally considered a type of metaphor) in which an inanimate object or abstraction is given human qualities or abilities. It is also one of the most frequently used devices in O. Henry‟s works. Below are some examples:
(1) But after a while Art flagged. It sometimes does, even if some
switchman doesn‟t flag it. (A Service of Love)
In this paragraph, Art are given human form, human feelings and human behavior. It yields to the cruel real life just like Joe and Delia who peruse their career with persistence but still can not see any hope. O. Henry indirectly presents us a miserable picture of Joe and Delia‟s life. Personification is constantly employed by O. Henry to avoid depicting the miserable aspect of life in a direct way, which makes readers laugh in tears. The following are more cases in point.
(2) The furnished room received its latest guest with a first glow of
pseudo-hospitality, a hectic, haggard, perfunctory welcome like the
specious smile of a demirep. (The Furnished Room)
(3) A dead leaf fell in Soapy‟s lap. That was Jack Frost‟s card. Jack
is kind to the regular denizens of Madison Square, and gives fair
warning of his annual call. At the corners of four streets he hands his
pasteboard to the North Wind, footman of the mansion of All Outdoors,
so that the inhabitants thereof may make ready. (The Cop and the
Anthem)
4.3 Intentions of humor in O. Henry’s short stories
This part studies two intentions of humor in O. Henry‟s short stories: 1) To express the
tragic content in a comic way, and 2) To expose the virtues and evils of humanity in a comic way.
4.3.1 Expression of the tragic content in a comic way
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In O. Henry‟s short stories, a comedy and a tragedy are usually blended into a holistic
union which not only preserves both features, but also integrates them into a new and harmonious whole. He masterfully uses his individual structure and style to skillfully interlay tear and laughter, tragedy and comedy, and surprisingly humorous effect are produced again and again. Apparently humorous styles are frequently employed in O. Henry‟s description of
tragic events and characters to produce a remarkable artistic effect, such as the stories “A
Service of Love” and “The Last Leave”. The first one, which is like the famous “The Gift of
the Magi”, tells the readers a story about a young art student couple. When facing financial difficulty in their life, they support each other to pursue his/ her dream by telling a lie to each other that she/ he fortunately gets a pleasant and constant income by teaching music and painting which they regard as their lifelong career. In the end of the story, they find that Delia‟s source of income is ironing shirts in a laundry while Joe‟s time has been spent in
firing the furnace in the same building. And “The Last Leaf” is a far more moving story
which has long been very popular. In this story, a kind-hearted and old painter successfully saves a badly ill young girl‟s life at the cost of his own life by presenting his one and only masterpiece一the last leaf on an outdoor vine.
4.3.2 Exposure of the virtues and evils of humanity in a comic way
4.3.2.1 Human Virtues
In O. Henry works, we can see a panorama of the American people in a humorous and satiric way. O. Henry expresses his compassion on the poor by denunciation of human evils and celebration of human virtues. In his stories, as a constant theme, humanity always plays the most significant role to generate eternal artistic appeal of his works. Human being has many virtues from ancient times to the present. They are virtuous, courageous, just, sincere, laborious, respectful, thrifty, handsome, and hospitable etc. Some people pay great price so as to cherish these virtues, they pursue lofty love and friendship at the expense of their own happiness even life; they take it as a honor to help others without waiting for return; they give up their own chance and fortune to others and so on. Such kind of people brings happiness and love to the world; they are angels who better the world with hope and light. 4.3.2.2 Human Evils
Human beings have many defects, too. Sometimes they are lazy, greedy, empty, haughty, 精品文档
cheeky, faint-hearted, and impetuous and so on. They get profits at the cost of others, they are always unmerciful and ruthless to the poor when making money, they achieve their own goals by fair means or foul etc. Their vicious deeds make the world evil. In exposure of the human evils and the dark faces of the world, O.Henry tries to arouse people‟ s conscience and pursue
for all good things, so that people can clean and better the whole world by using their efforts . It is clear that O. Henry frequently exposes people‟s stupidity, ridiculousness and ugliness by
producing lots of comic characters who impress their audience deeply for a long time. However, he never uses bitter satire because in his works, common people play an important role. Moreover, even in shames, O. Henry sees only humor. Working men and shop girls may pretend to be great gentlemen and great ladies and derive humorous effect from it without hurting anyone. He understands the code of ethics of the lower classes, and makes readers understand it, too.
Chapter Five Application of the Theory
in O. Henry’s Short Stories Humor Translation
Nida discusses the importance of reproducing the style of the original, and argues that “it
is functional equivalence which is required, whether on the level of content or on the level of style (Nida and Taber, 1969:14).”
This section will discusses how to achieve functional equivalence in the translation of humor in O. Henry‟s short stories. The first section focuses on translation methods, the second on evaluation of translation from the perspectives of universal humor, cultural humor and linguistic humor.
5.1 Translation Methods Derived from Functional Equivalence
Nida holds that what a translator does, or should do, is to select in each instance the closest and natural equivalent (Nida, 2004: 226). To get the closest effect, the translation should sufficiently reproduce the meaning and style of the source text; to achieve natural 精品文档
effect, the translation should, as much as possible, be well understood by target receptors just as how the source text is understood by its source audience. This reader‟s response oriented
translation theory is very feasible when it is adopted in humor translation. Only when the readers perceive the interpretation well enough can the aesthetic value and ultimate effect be achieved successfully, because humorous texts usually involve special language characters and different cultural factors which can not get a natural equivalent easily and is hard to be perceived by target audience if it is translated in order to get as closer as possible to the source text. We face this case more in translation of O. Henry‟s short stories in which specific
language and culture-specific language of Chinese can be found frequently.
Nida summarizes in his book Toward a Science of Translation that after comparing the
corresponding forms in the original and receptor languages of selected closest and natural equivalents, he finds that they conveniently fall into such classes of modification as can be described by these terms: additions, subtractions, and alterations. (Nida, 2004: 226) These are all methods of adjustment. Each device is further distributed into many subordinate cases. After analyzing many specific instances of humor translation in O. Henry‟s short stories, the
author sorts out the most frequently employed and most typical types of methods, and makes a list of translation techniques applicable in equivalently reproducing humorous effect along with the ordinary translation methods of literal translation and annotation.
Therefore, it is significant for us to discuss several common translation methods here so that we may further explore the application of functional equivalence in the translation of humor in O. Henry‟s short stories.
5.1.1 Literal translation
Literal translation is a translation whose original forms are retained as much as possible. This translation method is labeled by Nida “formal equivalence translation”. It is keenly
oriented towards the source text structure, which exerts strong influence on determining the accuracy and correctness of the rendered version. It can best preserve the cultural elements and national characteristics of the source language. As Nida puts it, “If a more or less formal
correspondence is functionally equivalent in designative and associative meaning, then no change of form is needed.” This strategy is usually applied to the original text with few or no connotation in O. Henry‟s short stories, such as:
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(1) Joe and Delia became enamored one of the other, or each of the
other, as you please, and in a short time were married--for (see above),
when one loves one‟s Art no service seems too hard. (A Service of Love)
乔和德丽雅互相——或者彼此，随你高兴怎么说——一见倾
心，短期内就结了婚——当你爱好你的艺术时，就觉得没有什么牺
牲是难以忍受的。(Translated by Wang Zhongnian 1986)
(2) “Why don‟t you ask her?” demanded old Anthony. “She‟ll
jump at you. You‟ve got the money and the looks, and you‟re a decent
boy. Your hands are clean. You‟ve got no Eureka soap on ‟em. You've
been to college, but she‟ll overlook that.” (Mammon and the Archer)
“干吗不向她求婚呢,”老安东尼追问道。“她一定会扑进你的怀
抱。你有钱，人又漂亮，又是个正经小伙子。你的两手干干净净，
从没沾上一点儿尤雷卡肥皂。你又上过大学，不过那点她不会在意
的。”(Translated by Pan Mingyuan 1996)
5.1.2 Adaptation
The strategy of adaptation is used where great changes are made to fit for the TL readers‟ taste and adaptation should not be adopted freely. Only when there is of great difficulty for TL readers to comprehend the message in the source text can the strategy of adaptation is employed. And just as the reason of using all the strategies in TMs translation, the translator should use the strategy of adaptation to arouse the TL readers‟ equivalent response with SL
readers.
(1) Richard began to walk up and down the library floor. There was
enough comradeship and sympathy in this crude old father of his to
draw his confidence. (Mammon and the Archer)
理查德开始在书房来回踱步。他这位粗鲁的老爹爹如此关切同
情，增强了他讲实话的信心。(Translated by Pan Mingyuan 1996)
(2) “You don‟t know the social mill, dad. She‟s part of the stream
that turns it.„„”(Mammon and the Archer)
“你不知道现在社交界的状况，爹。她是社交界的头面人物之
一„„”(Translated by Pan Mingyuan 1996)
5.1.3 Literal translation with annotation
When the language of the source text is culturally-loaded and specific to the source language, and no substitution or other tactics can bridge the gap in between, annotation is often employed so that the target readers could perceive the humor with the help of it. Although this will impair the completeness and naturalness of the target text, it can basically serve the function of maintaining the cultural or language features of the source text and making the target readers understand the humor.
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Annotation in linguistic translation usually takes the form of literal translation with footnotes or endnotes. The purpose is to introduce relevant knowledge of the source text to the target text readers so that the target text readers could sense the humor. Here is an example:
(1)“You didn‟t notice,” said he, “anywhere in the tie-up, a kind
of a fat boy without any clothes on shooting arrows around with a bow,
did you?” Mammon and the Archer ()
“你注意到没有，”他说，“在交通阻塞那儿有个赤身露体的胖娃
娃手拿弓箭在乱射吗,”( 脚注:胖娃娃:指爱神Cupid。 )
(Translated by Pan Mingyuan 1996)
(2) And then Joe, with the air of a Monte Cristo, drew forth a
ten, a five, a two and a one--all legal tender notes--and laid them beside
Delia‟s earnings.(A Service of Love)
接着，乔带着基度山伯爵的神气，掏出一张十元、一张五元、
一张两元和一张一元的钞票——全是合法的纸币——把它们放在德
丽雅挣来的钱旁边。(脚注:基度山伯爵:法国大仲马小说中的人物。
年轻时为情敌陷害，被判无期徒刑，在孤岛囚禁多年:脱逃后，在
基度山岛上掘获宝藏自称基度山伯爵，逐一报复仇人。)(Translated
by Wang Zhongnian 1986)
If the target language reader does not have the cultural background knowledge, he can not perceive the humor in the source text. In order to reproduce the humor effect in the source
爱神和基度山伯爵”who are household text, the translator has to annotate in the target text:“
names and are well known for all western readers. However, it is not so familiar with Chinese audience. Those without enough knowledge on the West may fail to understand humorous essence of it and thus cultural information is lost in the process. For this kind of humor, it is always difficult to maintain the humor in the source language with corresponding linguistic means. Therefore, the translator has to add some explanation to achieve the strategy of annotation to retain the humorous effects in the target language and make the target language reader perceive the humor of the source language. Only in this way can the target language readers perceive and understand the humor in the source text. Annotation makes the translation work. The target readers understand the sense of humor in the source text and humorous effect is reproduced because of annotation.
.1.4 Literal translation combined with adaptation 5
Translation is a complicated process which can not just adopt literal translation or adaptation. Literal translation is a direct, easy but effective strategy which can maintain the 精品文档
national flavors of the original humor. In contrast, adaptation conveys the meaning and spirit of the original without trying to reproduce its sentence patterns or figures of speech. In fact, many translators apply the two methods at the same time in order to develop their strong points and avoid their weak points. For example:
(1) He who has been denied the spectacle of a busy Manhattan
broker during a rush of business is handicapped for the profession of
anthropology. The poet sings of the crowded hour of glorious life. The
broker‟s hour is not only crowded, but the minutes and seconds are
hanging to all the straps and packing both front and rear platforms. (The
Romance of a Busy Broker)
谁无缘目睹曼哈顿经纪人在生意高峰时刻那股紧张劲儿，谁搞
人类学研究就有极大缺陷。有诗人赞颂“绚丽生活中的拥挤时辰”。
证券经纪人不仅时辰拥挤，他的分分秒秒都是挤得满满当当的，像
是前后站台都挤满乘客的车厢里的拉手吊带，每根都被拉得紧绷绷
的。(Translated by Luo Dashi 1996)
(2) "Well, it is the weakness, then," said the doctor. "I will do all
that science, so far as it may filter through my efforts, can accomplish.
But whenever my patient begins to count the carriages in her funeral
procession I subtract 50 per cent from the curative power of medicines.
(The Last Leaf)
“嗯，这么说来是虚弱的缘故，”医生说。“我将尽我所学，凡
科学能达到的，我都将做到„„”(Translated by Liu Jie 1996)
5.2 Evaluation of humor in O. Henry’s short stories
Nida believes in the same significance both on the content level and the style level in his functional equivalence theory. Translation in terms of content and style will be taken into detailed discussion in the following section.
5.2.1 Evaluation of universal humor translation
Universal humor, or reality-based humor, mainly refers to humorous situations or events, and most humor belongs to universal humor. To this kind of humor, there is little difference between different cultures, and the humorous elements in the source text can achieve the humorous function or the aesthetic function in the target text when translated directly into the target language. In circumstance, we can adopt literal translation to transfer the information arouse amusement among the target text receivers easily. Here are some examples from the works of O. Henry.
(1) But as Soapy set foot inside the restaurant door the head
waiter‟s eye fell upon his frayed trousers and decadent shoes. Strong 精品文档
and ready hands turned him about and conveyed him in silence and
haste to the sidewalk and averted the ignoble fate of the menaced
mallard. (The Cop and the Anthem)
可是，索比的脚刚踏进门，领班侍者的眼睛便落在了他那旧裤
子和破皮鞋上。强壮迅急的手掌推了他个转身，悄无声息地被押了
出来，推上了人行道，拯救了那只险遭毒手的野鸭的可怜命运。
(Translated by Pan Mingyuan 1996)
In the above example, the translator uses literal translation to get the functional equivalence and redeliver the humorous appeal of the source language. The author applies kinds of words to give a vivid picture of the head waiter‟s snobbery in a comic way such as:
“ready”, “convey”. According to the common knowledge, if a man has a nice dinner without paying for it, the restaurant will sure suffers the loss, so every boss of a restaurant must have warned his waiters to be careful with the people who seems poor and unable to afford the dinner in his restaurant, or the waiters will be punished for his imprudence. So when Sophy‟s
frayed trousers and decadent shoes which indicates his inability of consuming the meal in the restaurant was seen by the waiters, they throw him out readily and cruelly just as a goods without any hesitation. And the translator applies “强壮迅急的”, “悄悄而迅速” to make the
same response to the target readers just as the original readers do, who are amused by the comic scene.
But there is one flaw that can be found this translation version. The author‟s description
of “ignoble fate of the menaced mallard”is a sharp contrast to Sophy who suffers cold and
hunger, and his desire of a mallard is just a ignoble fate to the mallard. Here, the translator only partially reproduce the author’s bitter humor by just translating the words “ignoble”
into“可怜的”which fails to grasp the true intention of the author. And it may be better to translate the word into “不体面的”which are faithful and achieves functional equivalence of the original text.
(2)Soapy straightened the lady missionary‟s ready-made tie,
dragged his shrinking cuffs into the open, set his hat at a killing
cant and sidled toward the young women. He made eyes at her, was
taken with sudden coughs and “hems,” smiled, smirked, and went
brazenly through the impudent and contemptible litany of the
“masher.” (The Cop and the Anthem)
索比扶正了教会的女士送给他的领结，拉出缩进去的衬衣
袖口，把帽子往后一掀，歪得几乎要落下来，侧身向那女人挨
将过去。他对她送秋波，清嗓子，哼哼哈哈，嬉皮笑脸，把小
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流氓所干的一切卑鄙无耻的勾当表演得维妙维肖。(Translated by
Pan Mingyuan 1996)
In this paragraph, the author describes Sophy‟s funny performance of a masher by using
a series word such as “smile”, “smirk”, “brazenly”, “impudent”, “contemptible” to vividly
present the image of a Sohpy‟s endeavor to create a chance to get into the prison. In rendering those key words, the Chinese version deliberately adopts words with equally humorous effect as“送秋波”， “清嗓子”, “哼哼哈哈”, “嬉皮笑脸” to reproduce the humor to the target
readers just as that to its original readers.
(3)The ex-umbrella man retreated. The policeman hurried to
assist a tall blonde in an opera cloak across the street in front of a
street car that was approaching two blocks away. (The Cop and
the Anthem)
绸伞的前主人悻悻地退了开去。那位警察慌忙不迭地跑去
搀扶一个身披夜礼服斗篷、头发金黄的高个子女人穿过横街，
以免两条街之外驶来的街车会碰着她。(Translated by Pan
Mingyuan 1996)
As for Example (3), every reader may feel the strong humorous effect created by the author. According to the common knowledge, it is impossible for a “street car that was
approaching two blocks away” to hurt the woman, it is because that the woman seems rich in her “opera cloak”, the cop “hurry” to give a hand to her to across the street. The intensive contrast between the nobility of the woman and the poverty of Sophy impresses the reader deeply. The author uses “hurried”, “two blocks away” to create entertaining effects while
the translator reproduces it literally by “慌忙不迭地”, and “两条街之外” to deliver the
original amusing impact on the readers.
5.2.2 Evaluation of cultural humor translation
Cultural humor is closely linked to different cultural features. If the target text readers don‟t know the cultural difference, they can‟t understand the humor in the source text. Usually,
to this kind of humor, a literal translation can not achieve the humorous or the aesthetic function of the source text due to culture barriers. That is to say that only the translator overcomes the cultural problems can humorous effect be reproduced across to his intended readers.
For cultural humor, it is ideal that functional equivalent cultural counterparts could be found to replace the original humor. However, in some cases, Chinese counterparts don‟t exist,
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where supplement seems general to serve as the essential technique, so that the humorous effect can be effectively transferred.
This issue will be discussed from some examples from O. Henry‟s short stories in the
following part
(1) Soapy walked eastward through a street damaged by
improvements. He hurled the umbrella wrathfully into an
excavation. He muttered against the men who wear helmets and
carry clubs. Because he wanted to fall into their clutches, they
seemed to regard him as a king who could do no wrong. (The Cop
and the Anthem)
索比往东走，穿过一条因翻修弄得高低不平的街道。他怒气冲
天地把绸伞猛地掷进一个坑里。他咕咕哝哝地抱怨那些头戴钢盔、
手执警棍的家伙。因为他一心只想落入法网，而他们则偏偏把他当
成永不出错的国王。(注释:英语谚语:国王不可能犯错误——King
c(Translated by Pan Mingyuan 1996) an do no wrong.)
According to Nida (1993), the target audience for which a translation is made almost always constitutes a major factor in determining the translation procedures and the level of language to be employed. (Nida, 1993:139) This is an excerpt from The Cop and the Anthem.
O. Henry compares Soapy, a homeless man, to a king who, in Western proverb, never makes anything wrong. The sharp contrast between the two characters produces the effect of humor. Here the translator adopts the strategy of literal translation and annotation to help the target text readers understand its humor, otherwise the readers will feel puzzled: what is the relation between Sophy and a king. The annotation makes the target text readers perceive humorous sense. Of course, this approach influences the readers‟ coherent comprehension because the
readers will be in a vacuum of sense before they read the annotation, so some people think that annotation is not a good humor translation method, but at least it fulfills the task to transfer the information and lets the target text readers feel the humor to a certain degree, or we can say it serves the main purpose of intercultural communication.
(2) But after a while Art flagged. It sometimes does, even if some
switchman doesn‟t flag it. Everything going out and nothing coming in,
as the vulgarians say. Money was lacking to pay Mr. Magister and Herr
Rosenstock their prices.(A Service of Love)
可是没多久，艺术动摇了。即使没有人去摇动它，有时它自己
也会动摇的。俗语说得好，坐吃山空，应该付给马杰斯脱和罗森斯
托克两位先生的学费也没着落了。(Translated by Wang Zhongnian
1986)
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In this translation, the translator adopts the strategy of adaptation translation by replace “Everything going out and nothing coming in, as the vulgarians say.” by an equivalent“俗语
说得好，坐吃山空”which is more understandable and more natural to Chinese readers.
(3) “Stuck-up old statuette of nothing doing!” commented the
ex-Soap King. “The Eden Musee‟ll get that old frozen Nesselrode yet if
he don‟t watch out. I‟ll have this house painted red, white, and blue next
summer and see if that‟ll make his Dutch nose turn up any higher.”
(Mammon and the Archer)
“自命不凡的倔老头儿，你歪什么～”前任肥皂大王品评道。“你
这个外来客内斯尔罗德?一不留心，伊登博物馆迟早会把你这老王
八收进去。这个夏天，我要把我的房子粉刷成红白蓝三色?，瞧你
那荷兰鼻子能翘多高。” (注释:红、白、蓝三色:指荷兰国旗
的颜色。) (Translated by Pan Mingyuan 1996)
This is an instance of annotation application. The translator supplies the original reference through the note: “红、白、蓝三色:指荷兰国旗的颜色.” Receptor readers may not
apprehend the gap between the original reference and the applied meaning of this idiom. So it is better to add such words after the given note. By such an addition the receptor readers may sense that the ex-Soap King hold great prejudice against Anthony Rockwall who comes from Holland and suggests with ironic remarks.
5.2.3 Evaluation of linguistic humor translation
Linguistic humor refers to the humor caused by linguistic elements including the variance of sound, vocabulary and grammar, and some figures of speech, and so on. In this section, we discuss Linguistic humor from the three aspects of lexical expression, syntax and rhetoric. The following examples are analyzed from the three aspects of lexical expression, syntax and rhetoric, to show how the translator achieves the functional equivalence of style in the Chinese version of O. Henry‟s short stories.
5.2.3.1 At the lexical level
Normally, In the process of translation, a competent translator should try his best to establish functional equivalence both on content and the style of the source texts to reproduce the special aesthetic effects which is intended to deliver by the author.
(1) On his bench in Madison Square Soapy moved uneasily. When
wild goose honk high of nights, and when women without sealskin
coats grow kind to their husbands, and when Soapy moves uneasily on
his bench in the park, you may know that winter is near at hand. (The
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Cop and the Anthem)
索比急躁不安地躺在麦迪逊广场的长凳上，辗转反侧。每当雁
群在夜空中引颈高歌，缺少海豹皮衣的女人对丈夫加倍的温存亲热，
索比在街心公园的长凳上焦躁不安、翻来复去的时候，人们就明白，
冬天已近在咫尺了。(Translated by Pan Mingyuan 1996)
From the story it is known that cold winter is coming near and near, many noblewomen desire sealskin to show their nobility in social occasions and gratify their vanity. As a matter of fact, in a society of their times, the only source of finance is from their husbands who can afford luxurious articles for them. The word “grow” in the paragraph implies the lower social
status of the gentlewomen who have to redouble their efforts to please their husbands and thus they can fulfill their wish. The translators has caught O. Henry‟s humor here and paid great
attention to details by putting it into“加倍的” to reproduce successfully the author‟s style
and achieved functional equivalence both in content and style in translation.
(2) The hibernatorial ambitions of Soapy were not of the
highest. In them were no considerations of Mediterranean cruises,
of soporific Southern skies or drifting in the Vesuvian Bay. (The
Cop and the Anthem)
索比越冬的抱负并不算最高，他不想在地中海巡游，也不
想到南方去晒令人昏睡的太阳，更没想过到维苏威海湾漂泊。
(Translated by Pan Mingyuan 1996)
As known to all, Soapy, a homeless man, will never have the chance to enjoy anything of highest standard, and in contrast, he is just a poor person who walks among the social lowest classes. The only dream for him is to help himself survive the coming winter. In this translation version, the translator reproduces the original meaning by “最高” to deliver the
sharp contrast between the two living levels to produce the effect of humor. However, the author of this thesis prefers “奢” to “最高”, because the adjective “奢” in Chinese is a word
which indicates being too high and out of the reach. So in this example, “奢” is more suitable
than the expression of “最高”. This version of translation is based on the strategy of
adaptation which can create impact and appeal to the target receptors just as the source readers do.
From the detailed analysis above, we can draw a conclusion that a sophisticated translator should be fully aware of the various aesthetic functions according to the author‟s
choices. When translated version retains accordance with the stylistic features of the original text, functional equivalence in style can be achieved in the translation of humor. 精品文档
5.2.3.2 At the syntactic level
Sometimes, the translators should pay more attention to syntax which is a significant strategy to reproduce the original literary flavor of the source text. This section aims to manifest and analyze how complicated and important of the employment of stylistic translation to achieve functional equivalence in style because of the differences in syntactic structure.
(1) On the opposite side of the street was a restaurant of no great
pretensions. It catered to large appetites and modest purses. Its crockery
and atmosphere were thick; its soup and napery thin. (The Cop and
the Anthem)
对面街上，有一家不太招眼的餐厅，它可以填饱肚子，又花不
了多少钱。它的碗具粗糙，空气混浊，汤菜淡如水，餐巾薄如绢。
(Translated by Pan Mingyuan 1996)
It is true the translation version achieves functional equivalent to the original in content. In this example, it is obvious that there is one sentence which contains two clauses, and the verb in the second clause is omitted. Judging from the common sense, there is no relationship between crockery and atmosphere and soup and napery. The author puts them together to create a vivid picture of the plain restaurant in a humorous way. From the story it is known that it is Soapy‟s second attempt at accomplishing his desire. In his first attempt, he wanted to dine luxuriously at some expensive restaurant; and then, failed and be handed over quietly and without uproar to a policeman. So in his second attempt, he chooses a relatively plain restaurant and this time, he succeeds. In depiction of the restaurant, the translator ignores the author‟s special syntactic arrangement and the original rhythm of the movements.
The translator‟s translation“它的碗具粗糙，空气混浊，汤菜淡如水，餐巾薄如绢。” keeps
the original flavor to some extent but his rendition changes the syntactic structure of inversions and losses the sense of rhythm. From his translation readers cannot feel the rhythm of the movements. The author of this thesis prefers to employ “它那儿的盘盏和气氛都粗里
粗气，菜汤和餐巾都稀得透光。” This rendition keeps the original syntactic features and
remains the humorous style.
As analyzed above, translators‟ failure to achieve functional equivalence in style at the
level of syntax will usually make some losses in the translation of humor.
Consequently, when translating humor language, a competent translator should attach 精品文档
more importance to the syntactic structure which can make literary significance when selected and applied by the author.
5.2.3.3 At the rhetorical level
In O. Henry‟s short stories, figure of speech is an important method to create humor. This part will study how the translator reproduces humor in the original to achieve functional equivalence by the rendition of simile, metaphor, personification and so on. For example:
(1)And this day was Harvey Maxwell‟s busy day. The ticker
began to reel out jerkily its fitful coils of tape, the desk telephone had a
chronic attack of buzzing.„„he clerks in the office jumped about like
sailors during a storm. Even Pitcher‟s face relaxed into something
resembling animation. (The Romance of a Busy Broker)
今天又正是哈维?马克斯韦尔的大忙天。行情收录器的滚轴开
始瑟瑟卷动，忽停忽动地吐出卷纸，桌上的电话像害了慢性病似的
响个不停„„办公室的职员们忙得跳来跳去，就像与风暴搏斗的水
手。连皮彻的脸也舒张开来，显得生机勃勃。(Translated by Luo Dashi
1996)
(2)On the Exchange there were hurricanes and landslides and
snowstorms and glaciers and volcanoes, and those elemental
disturbances were reproduced in miniature in the broker‟s offices.
Maxwell shoved his chair against the wall and transacted business after
the manner of a toe dancer. He jumped from ticker to phone, from desk
to door with the trained agility of a harlequin. (The Romance of a Busy
Broker)
证券交易所里风云变幻，飓风、山崩、雪暴、冰川、火山瞬息
交替;这些自然力的剧动以微观形式在经纪人办公室中再现。马克
斯韦尔把椅子掀到墙边，如踢跶舞演员般敏捷地处理业务，时而从
自动收录器跳向电话，时而从桌前跳到门口，其灵活不亚于受过专
门训练的滑稽丑角。(Translated by Luo Dashi 1996)
Example (1) and (2) describe the amusing work scenes of the workers in a stock exchange company where they are under a great deal of pressures because of the numerous works they have to deal with to keep up with the rapidly changing stock market. The use of simile vividly presents the image of the clerks in the office and the broker who are desperately busy. In rendering the key words as “ jump ”, “ trained” and “ from„„from”, the Chinese
version deliberately chooses words with equally humorous effect as“跳来跳去”，“受过专门
训练的”and “时而„„ 时而”. Thus, the readers can perceive the nature of the world of American finance where was no room for the human world or the world of nature in a humorous and bitter way.
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(3)Richard, only six months home from college, was startled a
little. He had not yet taken the measure of this sire of his, who was as
full of unexpectednesses as a girl at her first party. (Mammon and the
Archer)
理查德离开学校才六个月，听了这话微觉吃惊。他还拿不准这
老头子的分寸。这老头子总是像初入社交界的少女一样，时不时地
问你一些意想不到的事。(Translated by Pan Mingyuan 1996)
(4)As I said, you‟re a gentleman. They say it takes three
generations to make one. They‟re off. Money‟ll do it as slick as soap
grease. It's made you one. By hokey! It‟s almost made one of me.
(Mammon and the Archer)
正如我刚才所说，你是上流社会的人。人们说，三代人才造就
一个上流人物。他们错了。有了钱办什么事都很灵便，就像肥皂的
油脂一样润滑。钱使你成了上流人物。啊，差点也使我成了上流人
物。(Translated by Pan Mingyuan 1996)
As for Example (3), as O. Henry compares Old Anthony Rockwall to a girl full of unexpectednesses at her first party. It is known to all that Old Anthony Rockwall is a sophisticated and shrewd businessman who amassed great wealth, power, and fame. But when he is in front of his son, he is just a loving father who takes great care of his son. And in example (4), in the story, Richard is worried about how to capture the heart of a noble girl who belongs to the exclusive circles of society, and Anthony encourages his son by comparing tough social matters to soap grease. In the Chinese versions the translator adopts literal translation to achieve functional equivalence by using“初入社交界的少女”，“ 肥皂的油脂”,
to reproduce the different faces of a successful capitalists as a loving father and a money first supporter in a vivid way. Thus, the humorous effect is produced by the simple similes and the original features retained. All the translations are faithful to the original texts and reproduce the linguistic humor.
(5) During all of the next week the Larrabees had an early
breakfast. Joe was enthusiastic about some morning-effect sketches he
was doing in Central Park, and Delia packed him off breakfasted,
coddled, praised and kissed at 7 o‟clock. Art is an engaging mistress. It
was most times 7 o‟clock when he returned in the evening. (A Service of
Love)
下一个星期，拉雷毕夫妇每天一早就吃早饭。乔很起劲地要到
中央公园里去在晨光下画几张速写，七点钟的时候，德丽雅给了他
早饭、拥抱、赞美、接吻之后，把他送出门。艺术是个迷人的情妇。
他回家时，多半已是晚上七点钟了。(Translated by Wang Zhongnian
1986)
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As for Example (5), the author implies that Joe spends time on drawing just in the way he spends with a charming mistress because there are many similarities between a beloved mistress and a beloved career for a man. The two are time consuming, engaging and worthwhile. We all know from the second half of the story that the so-called “career” Joe
undertakes is just firing an engine in a laundry. Poor Joe has to do the tiring and unskilled work to help his wife manage to make both ends meet while having to make a lie to his wife who works as a tutor to support him with his arts career. The translator fully understands the original text and uses“迷人的情妇” which is faithful and close to the original text to
reproduce the metaphor in a vivid way.
There is no cultural obstacle in the example of metaphors illustrated above, so the translator employs literal translation to keep the effect of the rhetoric techniques which can achieve functional equivalence in style as well.
(6)Sue found Behrman smelling strongly of juniper berries in his
dimly lighted den below. In one corner was a blank canvas on an easel
that had been waiting there for twenty-five years to receive the first line
of the masterpiece. (The Last Leaf)
苏在楼下他那间光线黯淡的斗室里找到了嘴里酒气扑鼻的贝尔
门。一幅空白的画布绷在个画架上，摆在屋角里，等待那幅杰作已
经25年了，可是连一根线条还没等着。(Translated by Liu Jie 1996)
(7) The "Dillingham" had been flung to the breeze during a former
period of prosperity when its possessor was being paid $30 per week.
Now, when the income was shrunk to $20, though, they were thinking
seriously of contracting to a modest and unassuming D. (The Gift of the
Magi)
"迪林厄姆"这个名号是主人先前春风得意之际，一时兴起加上
去的，那时候他每星期挣三十美元。现在，他的收入缩减到二十美
元，"迪林厄姆"的字母也显得模糊不清，似乎它们正严肃地思忖着
是否缩写成谦逊而又讲求实际的字母,。(Translated by Pan
Mingyuan 1996)
(8) The furnished room received its latest guest with a first glow
of pseudo-hospitality, a hectic, haggard, perfunctory welcome like the
specious smile of a demirep. (The Furnished Room)
客房以假惺惺的热情迎接新至的客人，像个暗娼脸上堆起的假
笑，红中透病、形容枯槁、马马虎虎。(Translated by Luo Dashi 1996)
In the paragraphs above, blank canvas, letters of Dillingham and room are given human form, human feelings and human behavior. In example (6), the blank canvas has been waiting for the masterpiece of its master Behrman for 25 years, but got nothing. In example (7), the 精品文档
letters of Dillingham are considering of changing their name due to their possessor‟s awkward
situation. In example (8), the furnished room meets its new guest in the same hypocritical and revolting way just as the housekeeper does. O. Henry indirectly presents us a miserable picture on Behrman, Della, Jim and tenants through this kind of humorous resort. Personification is constantly employed by O. Henry to avoid depicting the miserable aspect of life in a direct way, which makes readers laugh in tears. The translator fully understands the original text and uses“等待”and "严肃地思忖”, “热情迎接” and “堆起的假笑”to maintain
faithful and close to the original text.
(9)And then Anthony Rockwall, who never cared for bells, went
to the door of his library and shouted "Mike!” in the same voice that had
once chipped off pieces of the welkin on the Kansas prairies. (Mammon
and the Archer)
安东尼?罗克韦尔呼唤佣人历来不按铃。他走到书房门口，叫道，
“迈克～”那嗓门有如当年曾震破过堪萨斯大草原的苍穹。(Translated
by Pan Mingyuan 1996)
As usual arguments, the translator adopts literal translation in the rendition of the above hyperboles. The hyperbole in Example (9) shows Anthony Rockwall‟s disrespect of domestic
Servant. Generally speaking, speaking loudly is viewed as an impolite and disrespectful in western culture. But in Anthony Rockwall‟s eyes, there is no point in respecting his servants.
O. Henry depicts his rude manner by “chipped off pieces of the welkin on the Kansas
prairies” to give a vivid image of a arrogant and disdainful moneybag in a humorous way, and the translator employs equivalent description “震破过堪萨斯大草原的苍穹” to deliver the
original sense of humor to the target readers and this Chinese version of hyperbole is natural to the Chinese readers and achieves fully functional equivalence.
(10)Soapy‟s mind became cognisant of the fact that the time
had come for him to resolve himself into a singular Committee of
Ways and Means to provide against the coming rigour. And
therefore he moved uneasily on his bench. (The Cop and the
Anthem)
索比意识到，该是自己下决心的时候了，马上组织单人财务委
员会，以便抵御即将临近的严寒，因此，他急躁不安地在长凳上辗
转反侧。(Translated by Pan Mingyuan 1996)
In this example, O. Henry applies euphemism to describe in a humorous way the miserable life of Sophy who is homeless and has to live by his own. We know from the story that the singular Committee of Ways and Means refers to Sophy himself, and the translator 精品文档
puts this special name in a literal way by “单人财务委员会”to reflect the author‟s true
intention and enable the target text readers to have the same sympathy for poor Soapy.
Chapter Six Conclusion
6.1 Major Findings
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This thesis makes a detailed analysis on the application of functional equivalence theory in the translation of humor in O. Henry‟s short stories in which humor is an indispensable part
and a distinctive style and various methods have been employed to create the humorous effect, such as lexical, syntactic and rhetorical devices.
The thesis first reviews the definitions of humor and functional equivalence proposed by Nida. Then an investigation is conducted into the classifications and the main features of O. Henry‟s humor. In the following chapter, the author goes on to analyze the translation approaches and the practical application of functional equivalence in the translation of three types of humor in O. Henry‟s short stories, during which, the author discusses how to achieve
functional equivalence in the translation of humor.
The thesis tries to make some contributions to the application of Nida‟s functional
equivalence theory in humor translation. Due to the author‟s limited capacity and knowledge,
the comparative analysis can never be all-inclusive. In the end, the author comes to following conclusions:
First, Nida‟s functional equivalence theory is quite comprehensive and flexible which is very applicable in translation, including humor translation. This study has made it clear that the theory is applicable to the translation of humor, including universal humor, cultural humor and linguistic humor.
Second, in humor translation, the effect of functional equivalence can be achieved. The target language audience can substantially have the same response as the receptors in the original language by way of various translation methods, both in content and style. 6.2 Limitations of the Present Study
The author hopes that though this thesis is only a preliminary study on the translation of humor, the study could be helpful to humor translation and the researches on humor translation.
However, because of limitation of time, space, energy and author‟s knowledge of all
possible related studies, there must be many inadequacies in this thesis and the author can by no means study deeply enough to explain all kinds of humorous language and humor translation instances in O. Henry‟s short stories, let alone all the humor texts or language in
American literature. All the author has analyzed is only part of the iceberg, only about some 精品文档
representative and typical humor texts that can be divided into the three categories. As a result, the thesis is by no means a perfect one, which can not study translation of all humors, and the solution for studying the translation of the three types of humor is not absolute and unchangeable, there is still room to be tested and proved.
On the other hand, humorous language translation is a very complicated task. It is not just a simple direct transfer from the original text to the target text. Though from the perspective of functional equivalence theory, this thesis has paid great efforts to explain various methods employed in humorous language translation, a widely-accepted criterion for humorous language translation has not been presented. In this thesis, the author discusses the issue of translation of humor on the basis of only one and specific perspective, that is the perspective of functional equivalence. It is only a small respect among the countless respects of humor equivalence. Therefore, there must be many other perspectives even within the field of humor equivalence which can interpret translation of humorous text, let alone the whole field of translation, or the whole world of linguistics or translation.
It is impossible for only one thesis alone to study them all, and even the same translated version, various audiences get various comprehensions because of their different age, sex, personal interests, education, etc. Even the same person may get various comprehensions in various place, time and environment. Such a defect may affect the convincingness of the conclusion, so more researches and studies are called and expected in the field of humor translation. There is still a long way to go, and hopefully that more and more attention will be drawn to the field of humor translation.
6.3 Suggestions for further studies
O. Henry is one of the most famous writers in the literature world, but the study of translation of his works is less popular in the academic circle. The author hopes that a systematic study will be given to his works besides the functional equivalence perspective. Besides, functional equivalence theory can be combined with aesthetic theories and psychoanalytic theories in order to realize its utmost potential and provide a more objective, vivid understanding and comprehension of literary works.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
(1) Baker, M. (ed.). Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. London:Routledge. (I998)
(2) Baldick, Chris. Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms.Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. (2000)
(3) Bergson, H. Laughter, Essay on the Meaning of the Comic, New York: Macmillan 精品文档
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would first express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Liu Bing, for his positive reinforcement and serious instructions. He has encouraged and guided me from the beginning to the end of the writing of this thesis. I can not accomplish this thesis without his concern and illumination at all.
Secondly, I owe a lot to my teachers and professors in the College of Foreign Language who have been teaching me and enlightening me so much for the past three years.
Thirdly, I am grateful to my dear friends and my friendly classmates who accompany me with full assistance and support through all the difficulties of this thesis.
In the end, I would express my great appreciation to my beloved family members for their great support and confidence in me during my entire school career. 精品文档
PUBLISHED PAPERS
杨晓华.计算机辅助语言教学的新发展，《山西高等学校社会科学学报》2010，第22卷
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