On the side of translation studies, researches on the translation theory of functional equivalence have been quite accumulated, but studies on western fantasy novels combined with functional equivalence are seldom interested by researchers. Eugene A. Nida who brought forward the
functional equivalence theory put emphasis on the response of target readers. He persisted that accuracy could only be rightly determined by judging the extent to which the response of the receptor is substantially equivalent to the response of the original receptors. (Nida E.A., 2004) Therefore, his theory can provide great criterion for the translation of western fantasy novels. On the such basis, this thesis tries to analyze the translation of western fantasy novels, taking the A Game of Thrones as an example, guided by functional equivalence theory.
Chapter one introduces the background of this thesis. Chapter two covers present studies of A Song of Ice and Fire which includes studies of this book and Chinese translated version, especially studies of the volume one A Game of Throne. Besides, focus will be given onto researches of western fantasy novels. Chapter three tells the theoretical basis of this thesis, involving brief introduction of functional equivalence theory and its development. Chapter four is the main body of this thesis, it presents how functional equivalence theory explains the translation of A Game of Thrones in details. Chapter five is the conclusion of this thesis and seeks to sum up the features of translation on western fantasy novels under the guidance of functional equivalence theory.
Ⅱ. Literature Review
2.1 Researches on A Song of Ice and Fire
Studies aboard about western fantasy novels have been prevalent for many years, most of which paid attention to The Lord of Rings Trilogy. But in recent years, A Song of Ice and Fire came into people’s sight at an unexpectedly fast speed as many scholars look into this book from various perspectives. Some of the works are from the male chauvinism consciousness view. They may include On Male Chauvinism
Consciousness in A Song of Ice and Fire （叶羽，2014）and 从《冰与
火之歌》看父权社会女性的生存困境（宋丽娜，2015）. They talk about female’s living condition in the society where male chauvinism taking dominant position. Compared to other works, females in A Song of Ice and Fire have already encompassed with many excellent qualities. They own beauty, wisdom and social status but they cannot get rid of the limitation of the patriarchy. Besides, there are some researchers who put focus on
analysis of antitype. This kind of thesis includes an article “《冰与火之歌》
中瑟曦的原型分析（袁元&彭家海）and 同质与异化：原型结构现代 史诗奇幻小说——以《冰与火之歌 》为例”（洪娇，2015）. These theses attempt to comprehend the novel rather by analyzing characters in it.
It’s easy to explain why the studies in this field prosper within China. Since western fantasy novels have been flowing into China for many years and most of them were translated into Chinese, there are more and more scholars devoted themselves in analyzing translations. However, domestic studies on A Song of Ice and Fire still have limitations since most of them study the structure, themes and vivid language. Therefore, the thesis An
Analysis of the Chinese Version of A Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones from Skopos Perspective （吴霜，2014）will be meaningful as it
lays emphasis on the study of translation strategies.
2.2 Reviews on Western Fantasy Novels 功能对等理论下魔幻小说的翻译《权力的游戏》译本为例(3):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_203656.html