On Chinese-English Publicity Texts Translation From Adaptation Theory Perspective【毕业论文】.doc

1、毕业论文 文客久久 本科 毕业论文 (设计 ) 题 目： On Chinese-English Publicity Texts Translation From Adaptation Theory Perspective 学 院： 学生姓名： 专 业： 英语 班 级： 指导教师： 起 止 日期： 毕业论文 文客久久 Contents Abstract . .1 Introduction .3 1. Publicity Texts .3 1.1. Understanding of Publicity .3 1.2. Characteristics of Publicity Text . . .4

2、 1.2.1. Political Seriousness . 4 1.2.2. Communicative Effectiveness 5 2. Adaptation Theory and Translation .6 2.1. Choice-making and Three Properties of Language 6 2.2. Adaptation to “Three World” .7 3. Communicative Adaptation in C-E Translation of Publicity Texts . .8 3.1. Adaptation to the Menta

3、l world 8 3.1.1. Aesthetic Taste on Language .8 3.1.2. Thought Patterns .10 3.2. Adaptation to the Social world .11 3.3. Adaptation to the Physical world .12 3.3.1 Adaptation to time . .13 3.3.2 Adaptation to space . .13 Conclusion . .14 References . .16 1 摘要 随着全球化的不断发展，国际经济文化交流日益频繁，我国对外交流也不断深化。世界需要

4、了解一个真实的中国，中国也要通过各种途径对外介绍宣传自己。宣传资料作为 介绍中国、让世界了解中国、增进国家相互了解的重要途径，其译文的质量关乎中国的国际形象及国际社会对中国的评价及认同，影响深远。 本文运用维索尔伦的顺应理论，采用理论指导与例证分析相结合的方法，对外宣资料的中译英进行分析研究。顺应论认为 ,语言的使用过程就是在不同意识程度下不断做出选择以达成交际目的的过程。人类的交际活动主要是通过语言交际实现的。而翻译作为一种跨文化的交际活动，译者在做出语言选择时需考虑译语读者的交际语境和语言语境。前者包括心理世界，社交世界和物理世界；后者则主要包含衔接方式和语序规则。本文试图以 顺应论为理论

5、指导，研究译者在外宣资料翻译过程中是如何顺应各种因素进行语言及策略选择的。 总体而言，本文可分为以下三大部分：第一部分是对“外宣”的理解及外宣的 特点。第二部分解释顺应论，尤其是对交际语境的顺应。第三部分具体分析在中英外宣中，译者是如何顺应各种因素来达成交际目的的。 关键词 外宣翻译；中译英；顺应论；全球化 2 Abstract With the development of globalization, international contacts are becoming ever closer in economic and cultural fields. And various co

6、mmunication and cooperation between China and other countries turns even further. People from abroad would like to have a real image of China which urges China to introduce itself to the world by various ways. Publicity texts as an important access to introduce and know China, its translations have

7、profound influences, which are closely related to the international image of China. From the perspective of adaptation theory, this thesis studies the Chinese-English translations of publicity texts by theoretical instruction and case study. According to adaptation theory, language usage is a contin

8、uous process of making choices to achieve the goal of communication by language users who use it consciously or unconsciously. Human communication is mainly achieved by the means of language communication. As translation is a cross-cultural communicative activity, translators should take communicati

9、ve context and linguistic context into consideration when they make the linguistic choices. The former one includes the target readers mental, social and physical world while the latter one refers to cohesion and utterance-building principles of sequencing. This thesis tries to study how translators

10、 make choices and select relative translating strategies with adaptation to various factors. Generally speaking, this thesis could mainly be divided into three parts: firstly, the understanding of “publicity” and the characteristics of publicity texts. Secondly, introduction of adaptation theory， es

11、pecially the adaptation to communicative context. Thirdly, how translators adapt to different factors and make choices g in C-E publicity translation to achieve communicative goals. key words publicity translation; C-E translation; adaptation theory; globalization 3 On Chinese-English Publicity Text

12、s Translation From Adaptation Theory Perspective Introduction Since the reform and opening-up, great changes in fields from economy, culture, to politics have taken place in China. C-E publicity translation, as one of the most important channels for China to introduce itself to foreign readers, is c

13、atching more and more attention. And scholars like Duan Liancheng already aware of the great significance of C-E publicity translation keep on making efforts to accumulate practical experience and making theoretical researches in this field since late 1970s. Without any doubt, the quality of C-E pub

14、licity translation has been improved to a great extent in recent years. However, its improvement is still not that satisfying. Studies in this field are still in lack of systematic and theoretical foundation. And problems and mistranslations still exist in various ways. From the perspective of Jef V

15、erschuerens Adaptation Theory, this thesis tries to make further study on C-E publicity translation with specific case study method. Examples shown in this thesis are all selected from the official website of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Peoples Republic of China. As time flies, there are new

16、needs towards publicity translation, so it is with its studies. To adapt to time, most of them are sources of the latest 6 months since 2011. 1. Publicity Texts According to Oxford Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary(4th edition), text refers to: the original words of something written or p

17、rinted, as opposed to a paraphrase, translation, revision, or condensation. In this section, through certain definitions searched in dictionaries and brief explanations, the author hopes to make two things clear. The first one is that what is “publicity” and “publicity text”; and secondly the most o

18、utstanding characteristics of publicity text translation. 1.1. Understanding of Publicity As this is a thesis about C-E publicity translation, firstly we should have a good grasp of its meaning. For a long time, the phrase“外宣” has take the form of “foreign propaganda” as translation by Chinese media

19、s. However, according to Oxford Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary(4th edition), the explanation of “propaganda” is “(usually disapproving) ideas or statements that may be false or exaggerated and that are used in order to gain support for a political party”(Hornby,1997:1186). To the under

20、standing of foreign readers, “propaganda” may give people an derogative impression of arbitrary distortion for some political reasons, so it is no longer frequently used when the Chinese word“外宣” is referred to. Instead, “publicity” is getting more widely 4 accepted as the equivalent or near-equival

21、ence of “外宣” . In Webster New World College Dictionary, “publicity” refers to “any information, promotional material, etc. which brings a person, place, product or cause to the notice of the public.” This is closer to the original meaning of “waixuan”, which can be divided into two kinds: domestic p

22、ublicity (dui nei xuan chuan 对内宣传 )and international publicity (dui wai xuan chuan对外宣传 ). Domestic publicity means publicity focused on domestic audience within a district, city, and province or the whole nation. While the latter one means publicity faced to the international world in the strict sen

23、se,including publicizing domestic principles and policies, natinal circumstances and positions towards international issues to foreign countries. It targets on the foreign audience. The English term “publicity texts” used in this thesis particularly refers to those materials used in international pu

24、blicity， those texts “distinguished from notes, commentary, paraphrase, translation, etc.” or “the exact or original words of a speaker” . 1.2. Characteristics of Publicity Text Chinese-English translation for foreign audience is an important means for foreign publicity. It integrates theory of dipl

25、omacy, mass communication, cross-culture communication. Unlike literary and commercial translation, C-E translation for foreign audience has its unique concept and features, and it imposes special requirements upon the translators. On one hand, C-E translation of publicity text relating to Chinese c

26、haracteristic doesnt have abundant examples and principles to follow; On the other hand, the targeted readers of publicity translation are foreigners, thus the feedback is always backward, which makes it harder for translators to try to figure out the understanding level of readers and make adjustme

27、nts. Generally speaking, there are two outstanding characteristics of publicity textspolitical seriousness and communicative effectiveness. 1.2.1. Political Seriousness Publicity texts concerns to sensitive political details and positions, relates to the development of our national image and the int

28、erest of the most extensive people. Therefore, in C-E translation of publicity texts, great attention should be paid to its political nature and accuracy in information. On one hand, we should think twice before we make choices, from grammar, syntax to words. In Chinese official publicity texts , we

29、 can find that a large amount of formal words are frequently used to make the information feel “official” and serious. For example, “ 两国 高层交往频繁 ， 对话机制逐步完善 。过去 40 年，特别是近年来，中美领导人通过 双边互访、多边会晤 、通电话、通信等方式保持密切接触，为引领两国关系发展发挥了不可替代的重要作用 ” ; “ 和平、发展、合作的时代潮流没有改变 ， 全球性挑战 更加突出，各国之间 相互依存 更加紧密。中美作为两个大国，共同利益更加广泛， 共

30、同责任更加艰巨 。中美关系的发展事关两国人民5 福祉 ，牵系世界和平、稳定与繁荣。 ” (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2012.3)Words and phrases underlined are typically formal and official. When making choices on its translation form, translators also should pay attention to this feature. It is the formal words should be chosen accordingly rat

31、her than the colloquial ones. On the other hand, translators should have a wide and profound background knowledge as well as subtle sense in language use. For instance, some western press often use the phrase “national unification” as the translation form of “祖国统一 ” . However, presses in China inten

32、d to use anther phrase “national reunification” ,which indicates that China has been unified long time ago, and Taiwan is always an inalienable part of China. For example, China is firm in upholding its core interests which include the following: state sovereignty, national security, territorial int

33、egrity and national reunification (Information Office of the State Council, 2011.9) “台湾问题 ” related to national reunification should be translated into “Taiwan question” instead of “Taiwan issue”, because “issue” means a matter in dispute between two parties. However, Taiwan question is internal par

34、t of Chinas internal affairs, and its resolution allows for no interference. E.g. The Taiwan question, an internal affair of China, bears on Chinas sovereignty, territorial integrity and core interests and is dear to the hearts of the 1.3 billion Chinese people.( Hong, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,20

35、11.9) Examples listed above all shows that C-E publicity translation has an outstanding character of political seriousness. 1.2.2. Communicative Effectiveness The objective of political documents C /E translation is to ensure the target readers accurate and free comprehension of the messages that th

36、e source text conveys. No matter how delicate the translation is, if it cant be understood by its readers, it would be effort in vain. As many foreigners has litte background knowledge about Chinese history and culture, sometimes even some basic and well-known information to Chines should be properl

37、y handled and explained.For example, (1).“炎黄子孙 ” Its literal translation form could be “a descend of Yandi and Huangdi” , whiletranslators take readers into full consideration would smartly add explanation like “Yan-Huang: referring to Yandi and Huangdi, legendary rulers of C hina in remote antiquit

38、y, ancestors of the Chinese people”. Then foreign readers with little knowledge about Chinese history and culture can understand it better and know whats exactly talking about. (2) Man in China passed from primitive society to slave society in the 21st century B.C., with the founding of Chinas first

39、 dynasty, that of the Xia. The subsequent dynasties, the Shang (16th-11th century B.C.) and the Western Zhou (11th century-770 6 B.C.) saw further development of slave society. This era was followed by the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (770-221 B.C.), marking the transition from the s

40、lave society to feudal society.( Ministry of Foreign Affairs,2011.9) Translators adding necessary information for explanation successfully adapts to the targeted audiences culture and cognition, and in return the audience would feedback quickly, and communication activity would smoothly go on. 2. Ad

41、aptation Theory and Translation The notion of adaptability originally enlightened by Darwins evolutionary theory. The Belgium linguist Jef Verschueren (2000:1) in his book entitled Understanding Pragmatics specifies pragmatics as a general cognitive, social and cultural perspective on linguistic phe

42、nomenon in relation to their usage in forms of behavior and advances a new pragmatic theoryAdaptation Theory. It has been a long time that different scholars argues about what translation criteria they shoud adhere to. Jef Verschuerens adaptation theory gives them a new perspective. 2.1. Choice-maki

43、ng and Three Properties of Language Verschueren holds the idea that “using language must consist of the continuous making of linguistic choices, consciously or unconsciously, for language-internal (i.e. structural) and/or language-external reasons”. (Verschueren,2000:55-56) And the reasons why langu

44、age users could make proper choices in communication is that language has three hierarchically related key notions: variability, negotiability and adaptability. Respectively, their meanings are like follows: Variability is the property of language which defines the range of possibilities from which

45、choices can be made. Negotiability is the “property of language responsible for the fact that choices are not made mechanically or according to strict rules or fixed form-function relationships, but rather on the basis of highly flexible principles and strategies”. Adaptability is “the property of l

46、anguage which enables human beings to make negotiable linguistic choices from a variable range of possibilities in such a way as to approach points of satisfaction for communicative needs” (Verschueren, 2000: 59). Of the three notions, variability and negotiability work as precondition and foundatio

47、n of adaptability, both of two provide various possibilities and ways for choice-making, adaptability is the fundamental objective. It indicates that people make linguistic choices adapt to the communication needs within possible range, so as to make communication activities go on successfully. To achieve the communication goal, utt