Author(s)

Liuyun Lu ¹, Shu Wu ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Sino-German College, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China

Corresponding Author

Shu Wu

ABSTRACT

The challenges of translating German-Chinese literature lie in the fact that the translator must convey more than just the meanings of words and phrase; additionally, in China, German is still not a widely spoken foreign language. Compared to the translation of English literature, there is a lack of theoretical research and practical translation experience. This article first summarizes the Functional Equivalence Theory from Eugene A. Nida and the content as well as the language style of the original novel of Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis) by Franz Kafka in preparation for the research. Then, the article analyzes the differences between the two Chinese translations from three perspectives before coming to the final conclusion.

KEYWORDS

German-Chinese Translation; Functional Equivalence Theory; Die Verwandlung

CITE THIS PAPER

Liuyun Lu, Shu Wu, Differences in Chinese Translations of Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis): A Case Study of Translation by Junwen Li and Rongchang Zhang. Lecture Notes on Language and Literature (2025) Vol. 8: 41-45. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/langl.2025.080307.

REFERENCES

[1] Nida, E.A. (1964) 'Toward a science of translating', Brill.
[2] Mao, D. and Wang, Z. (2024) A Study of Eugene A. Nida and His Translation Theories. Lecture Notes on Language and Literature Vol. 7: 181-188.
[3] Gao, Y. (2023) Analysis of Eugene Nida's Translation Theory. International Journal of Education and Humanities, 10(1), 203–206.
[4] Franz, K. (1915) 'Die Verwandlung', epublibre.
[5] Li, J.W. (2011) 'Die Verwandlung', Tianjin Renmin Publishing House.
[6] Zhang, R.C. (2018) 'Die Verwandlung: Collection of short and medium stories of Kafka', Shanghai Translation Publishing House.
[7] Benjamin, W. (1923) "The Task of the Translator" (introduction to a Baudelaire translation, 1923; this text translated by Harry Zohn, 1968) "The Translation Studies Reader", ed. Lawrence Venuti (2000), London, Routledge

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