ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 offers an introduction to the application of Systemic Functional Linguistics to translation studies. We first elaborate on Matthiessen’s (2001, 2014b) environments of translation and interpret his conception of translation as recreation of meaning in context through choice. We then introduce the data of the present study, i.e. Stray Birds by Rabindranath Tagore (the source text) and its four Chinese translations by Zheng Zhenduo, Yao Hua, Lu Jinde, and Feng Tang. In addition, based on a pilot study, we propose an analytical framework, which models on stratification of language and involves the analysis from graphological, phonological, lexicogrammatical, and contextual perspectives.
