Abstract

This study explores English translations of the Tao Te Ching in terms of interlingual realization, a systemic functional perspective on translation involving two sub-processes: de-realization and re-realization. In this model, the translator first de-realizes the source text from source language phonology/graphology to context, finding the intersection of the source language context and the target language context, and then re-realizes it into target text from the target language context to target language phonology/graphology. Two dimensions are to be considered in interlingual realization—stratification and rank. The source text can be re-realized by translation equivalence and translation shift at any stratum or rank of the target language in the target text, where typically translation equivalence at a higher level stratum or rank is valued higher than equivalence at a lower level.

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