从目的论的角度看对外宣传资料的英译硕士学位论文

《从目的论的角度看对外宣传资料的英译硕士学位论文》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在学术论文-天天文库。

学校代码：10254密级：论文编号：上海海事大学SHANGHAIMARITIMEUNIVERSITY硕士学位论文MASTERTHESIS论文题目：从目的论的角度看对外宣传资料的英译学科专业：外国语言学及应用语言学作者姓名：指导教师：完成日期：III-- 毕业设计（论文）原创性声明和使用授权说明原创性声明本人郑重承诺：所呈交的毕业设计（论文），是我个人在指导教师的指导下进行的研究工作及取得的成果。尽我所知，除文中特别加以标注和致谢的地方外，不包含其他人或组织已经发表或公布过的研究成果，也不包含我为获得及其它教育机构的学位或学历而使用过的材料。对本研究提供过帮助和做出过贡献的个人或集体，均已在文中作了明确的说明并表示了谢意。作者签名：　　　　　日　期：　　　　　指导教师签名：　　　　　日　　期：　　　　　使用授权说明本人完全了解大学关于收集、保存、使用毕业设计（论文）的规定，即：按照学校要求提交毕业设计（论文）的印刷本和电子版本；学校有权保存毕业设计（论文）的印刷本和电子版，并提供目录检索与阅览服务；学校可以采用影印、缩印、数字化或其它复制手段保存论文；在不以赢利为目的前提下，学校可以公布论文的部分或全部内容。作者签名：　　　　　日　期：　　　　　 学位论文原创性声明本人郑重声明：所呈交的论文是本人在导师的指导下独立进行研究所取得的研究成果。除了文中特别加以标注引用的内容外，本论文不包含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写的成果作品。对本文的研究做出重要贡献的个人和集体，均已在文中以明确方式标明。本人完全意识到本声明的法律后果由本人承担。作者签名：日期：年月日学位论文版权使用授权书本学位论文作者完全了解学校有关保留、使用学位论文的规定，同意学校保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交论文的复印件和电子版，允许论文被查阅和借阅。本人授权　　　　大学可以将本学位论文的全部或部分内容编入有关数据库进行检索，可以采用影印、缩印或扫描等复制手段保存和汇编本学位论文。涉密论文按学校规定处理。作者签名：日期：年月日导师签名：日期：年月日 指导教师评阅书指导教师评价：一、撰写（设计）过程1、学生在论文（设计）过程中的治学态度、工作精神□优□良□中□及格□不及格2、学生掌握专业知识、技能的扎实程度□优□良□中□及格□不及格3、学生综合运用所学知识和专业技能分析和解决问题的能力□优□良□中□及格□不及格4、研究方法的科学性；技术线路的可行性；设计方案的合理性□优□良□中□及格□不及格5、完成毕业论文（设计）期间的出勤情况□优□良□中□及格□不及格二、论文（设计）质量1、论文（设计）的整体结构是否符合撰写规范？□优□良□中□及格□不及格2、是否完成指定的论文（设计）任务（包括装订及附件）？□优□良□中□及格□不及格三、论文（设计）水平1、论文（设计）的理论意义或对解决实际问题的指导意义□优□良□中□及格□不及格2、论文的观念是否有新意？设计是否有创意？□优□良□中□及格□不及格3、论文（设计说明书）所体现的整体水平□优□良□中□及格□不及格建议成绩：□优□良□中□及格□不及格（在所选等级前的□内画“√”）指导教师：（签名）单位：（盖章）年月日 评阅教师评阅书评阅教师评价：一、论文（设计）质量1、论文（设计）的整体结构是否符合撰写规范？□优□良□中□及格□不及格2、是否完成指定的论文（设计）任务（包括装订及附件）？□优□良□中□及格□不及格二、论文（设计）水平1、论文（设计）的理论意义或对解决实际问题的指导意义□优□良□中□及格□不及格2、论文的观念是否有新意？设计是否有创意？□优□良□中□及格□不及格3、论文（设计说明书）所体现的整体水平□优□良□中□及格□不及格建议成绩：□优□良□中□及格□不及格（在所选等级前的□内画“√”）评阅教师：（签名）单位：（盖章）年月日 教研室（或答辩小组）及教学系意见教研室（或答辩小组）评价：一、答辩过程1、毕业论文（设计）的基本要点和见解的叙述情况□优□良□中□及格□不及格2、对答辩问题的反应、理解、表达情况□优□良□中□及格□不及格3、学生答辩过程中的精神状态□优□良□中□及格□不及格二、论文（设计）质量1、论文（设计）的整体结构是否符合撰写规范？□优□良□中□及格□不及格2、是否完成指定的论文（设计）任务（包括装订及附件）？□优□良□中□及格□不及格三、论文（设计）水平1、论文（设计）的理论意义或对解决实际问题的指导意义□优□良□中□及格□不及格2、论文的观念是否有新意？设计是否有创意？□优□良□中□及格□不及格3、论文（设计说明书）所体现的整体水平□优□良□中□及格□不及格评定成绩：□优□良□中□及格□不及格（在所选等级前的□内画“√”）教研室主任（或答辩小组组长）：（签名）年月日教学系意见：系主任：（签名）年月日83 EnglishTranslationofForeignPublicityMaterial---FromaSkoposPerspectiveByMiaoXiaojunUndertheSupervisionofProfessorHanZhonghuaAThesisSubmittedtotheCollegeofForeignLanguagesofShanghaiMaritimeUniversityinPartialFulfillmentoftheRequirementsfortheMADegreeShanghaiMaritimeUniversityJune,2008EnglishTranslationofForeignPublicityMaterial-FromaSkoposPerspective83 IntroductionTheimplementationofChina’sreformandopening-uppolicyandtheincreaseofinternationalexchangeshavestartedanewerainthenation’slonghistoryofcommunicationwithforeigncountries.NeverbeforehasChinacaughtthewholeworld’sattentionandnorhasforeignpublicity.“ItwasonSeptember1st,1944thatXinhuaNewsAgencysetupitsEnglishBroadcastingDepartment…ThismarkedtheofficialbeginningofforeignpublicitybyXinhuaNewsAgency.”(刘家林,2005:478).Foreignpublicitytranslation,asaformofpracticaltranslationonceneglectedbyChinesetranslatorsintheirtranslationstudies,hasbeendrawingmoreandmoreattentionforthelastdecade.Whetherornotwecanbridgethegapbetweendifferentculturesandavoidunnecessarymutualmisunderstandingdependstoahighdegreeonitsforeignpublicitytranslation.Awelltranslatedpublicitymaterialcontributestothegoodreputationofthegovernment,justas“绿色奥运，人文奥运，科技奥运”(Environment-friendly,culture-enrichedandtechnology-propelledOlympics)and“禁止烟火”(Nosmoking)do,whileapooroneoftenresultsinmisunderstanding,andevendamagetothereputationofthegovernment.MediasuchasChinaDaily,ChinaTodayandBeijingReviewarethemodelsofgoodtranslationsofforeignpublicity,theyarepopularamongreadersbothathomeandabroad.Nevertheless,alotofproblemshavebeenfoundinthetranslationofmanyforeignpublicitymaterials.2008OlympicGamesisapproaching,wecanexpectthattherewillbeincreasingquantitiesofforeignpublicitymaterialsneededtobetranslatedintoforeignlanguages.Goodtranslationplaysanimportantroleinthesuccessofforeignpublicitymaterials.Thereforefindinganeffectivestrategytoguidethetranslationofforeignpublicitymaterialsseemstobemoreimportant.Foralongtime,whethertotranslateliterallyorfreelyhadbeenthecentralissuearguedbyscholars.Eversince1970smoreandmorescholarshavemovedtheirtranslationstudiesbeyondlinguisticsandwidenedtheirscope.Thenotionofequivalenceischallengedandanotherwayislookedfortodeveloptranslation83 studies.Skopostheoryviewstranslationasaninterculturalactionbasedonasourcetext.Thetranslatorcanadapthistranslationstrategyaccordingtothetranslationpurpose.Aftercarefulinvestigationintothetranslationstrategies,theauthorthinksthattheSkopostheorymaybeservedasagoodtheoryguideforthetranslationofforeignpublicitymaterial.Thethesisaimstofindasoundtheoreticalbasisforapplyingthestrategytothetranslationofforeignpublicity.Alotofexamplesareillustratedtotestthevalidityoftheidea.(i)OverviewofForeignPublicityMaterialTranslationStudiesIntheearliertime,someChinesescholarsmadestudiesonforeignpublicity.DuanLianchengclassifiestheproblemsandtheircausesinthetranslationofpublicitymaterialsinhisarticleentitledAppealingforMoreAttentiononPublicityMaterials(段连城：1990).Heclassifiestheproblemsas“hardmistakes”characterizedbymisspelling,grammaticalmistakesandinappropriatewordsand“softmistakes”whichmakeforeignershardorimpossibletounderstand.Thelatterismorecomplicatedduetotheculturalbarrier.Thethesiswillfocuson“softmistakes”inthetranslationofpublicitymaterials.InChengZhenqiu’sbookOnProblemsofTranslation—ASeriesofTalksGivenattheInstituteofJournalism（程镇秋：1980），heofferssomewaystosolveproblemsinthetranslationofpoliticalliterature(onekindofpublicitymaterial),hepointsoutthatinthetranslationofpoliticalliterature,keepingfaithfultotheoriginalismostimportant.OtherpublicityliteratureincludesShenSuru’sTheoryandPracticeinForeignPublicity(沈苏儒：2004),LiuHongchao’sHowtomakeForeignPublicityReport(刘洪潮：2005),ZhaiShuyao’sForeignPublicityReportandItsEnglishWriting(翟树耀：2001).Inthesebooksscholarscometorealizethatinsteadoflinguistictechniques,socialandculturefactorsarecrucialintranslation.Aftercarefulinvestigationintothetranslationstrategies,theauthorthinksthatthefunctionalisttheorymaybeservedasagoodtheoryguideforthetranslationof83 foreignpublicitymaterials.Someusefularticlesandbookshavebeenread.Forinstance,ZhongWeihe,ZhongYu(1999:3)elaborateonthefunctionalisttheory,somebasicconceptsareintroduced.ZhangMeifang(2005)presentsallthepointsofviewsofGermanFunctionalists.ChenXiaowei(2000:4)pointsout“theconcepthasprovidedtheoreticalbasisforsometranslationpracticesusedtobeconsideredagainsttheexistingcriteriaoftranslationmethods…”.Relatingpublicitymaterialtranslation,manyarticlescombiningtheorieswithpublicitytranslationhavebeenpublishedinvariouskindsoftranslationjournals,morethantwentyessayshavebeengatheredinCNKI(中国期刊网数字图书馆).Mostofthemarearticlesonlytointroducethetheory,bringingintherelevantbackgroundknowledgeandsomekeynotions.Somehavealreadytriedtoapplythetheorytothestudiesontranslationcriteriaandstrategies.Insomearticles,theauthorstriedtocombinethetheorywithpracticaltranslation.Forinstance,Libin(2003),Longlu(2006),XuMianjun(2002),YuXuyan(2003),ChenLiuting(2001)haveelaboratedonthecategorizationoftranslationmethodsandskills.Ofcourse,thesemethodsarehelpfulinleadingustosolvethosespecificproblemsintranslating;nevertheless,evenarmedwiththosemethods,wearestillconfusedaboutwhenandwhyweusetheminpracticaltranslating.Guorong(2003),LiAizhen(2005)pointsoutproblemsexistinginthepresentforeignpublicitytranslationpracticebygivingexamplesofpoortranslations,LiYabin(2006)discussesthefactorsandstrategiesinC-EtranslationofforeignpublicityfromNida’sfunctionaltheory.Mostofthemarearticlesonlytointroducethetheory,introducingtherelevantbackgroundknowledgeandsomekeynotions.Insomearticles,theauthorstriedtocombinetheskopostheorywithpracticaltranslation.Zhangqi(2007)appliesfunctionalistapproachestoforeignpublicitytranslation,heexplainsthegeneralprinciplesinfunctionalistapproaches.However,onlyafewarticlesroughlydiscusstheapplicationsoftheskopostheorytothetranslationofpublicitymaterial.Andtheapplicationofskopostheorytotheprofessionaltranslationisfarfromsufficiency.Someofthemonlylayoutsomepointsofskopostheoryfollowedbysometranslationexamples,whereasadeepandcomprehensiveanalysiscanbeseldom83 seen.Andmostofthediscussionsareconfinedtothemeredescriptiveanalysisofexamplesandhavetoomuchrepetitionorsimilarityinexamplesaswellasintheirexplanationsandtranslationtechniquesandmethodsputforward,whileseeminglybeinglackoftheoreticalconsiderations.Additionally,toomuchattentionhasbeenpaidtothelinguisticanalysisonthelexicallevel,whilethereiscomparativelyashortageofdiscussionsonthemulti-considerationsoftranslators’strategyadoptionindealingwithpublicitymaterialtranslation.Thisthesis,onthebasisoftheaboveandsomeunlistedworks,focusesontheculturalelementsincross-culturalpublicitymaterialtranslation.HeretheauthorwillstrivetofindoutasmanyasproblemsanderrorsinC-Etranslationofforeignpublicityandmakeadetailedanalysisonthem,andstrivetooffersolutionsandtranslationstrategiesbasedonSkopostheorietominimizeerrorsorpitfalls.(ii)TheAimandStructureoftheThesisCurrently,withthetrendofeconomicglobalizationandwithChina’sentryintotheWTO,opportunitiesforinternationalexchangeandco-operationarewidening,thusourforeignpublicityneedstocontinuetoexpand.Foreignpublicitymaterialtranslationhasbeenstudiedbymoreandmorescholars.Yetthepreviousstudiesseemnotenoughtomeettheneedsinsuchamoderntimeofeconomicglobalizationandquickdevelopment.TheauthorattemptstoapplyVermeer’sSkopostheorietoforeignpublicitytranslation.Bymakingadiscussionofthepurposeofforeignpublicitymaterialtranslationandgivinganintroductionoftheskopostheory,thethesispointsoutthatthepurposeofforeignpublicitymaterialtranslationisinfluencedandconstrainedbybothlinguisticandextra-linguisticfactorsespeciallytheculturalfactor.Foreignpublicitytranslationisaprocessofmakingpurposefulselectionsduringwhichalotofadaptationshavebeenmadetoachievethepurposeofthetranslationandthustheauthorholdsthatskopostheorieisofguidingsignificancetoforeignpublicity83 translationandthetarget-text-orientedpurposefuladaptationapproachshouldbethemajorapproachintranslating.Thisthesisaimsatstudyingtranslationerrorsintheforeignpublicitymaterialsandappliesskopostheorytoitstranslationtominimizeerrors.Asthethesisunfolds,besidestheintroductionandconclusion,we’llgothroughanotherthreechapterstoexploretranslationproblems,providethetheoreticalguidancefortranslationpracticeandtestifytotheapplicabilityoftranslationstrategylikeadaptationfromthefunctionalistperspective.Tobeginwith,thisthesisreviewsthepreviousstudiesonthistopicandtheaimandstructureofthethesis.Secondly,ageneralintroductionofforeignpublicityanditstranslationismade.Definition,classificationandfunctionsofforeignpublicitymaterialsarediscussedinChapterOne.ChapterTwoexplainsVermeer’sSkopostheorieanditsimportancetopublicitytranslation.Somekeyconceptsarediscussedintermsoftheirapplicabilityinforeignpublicitytranslation.Onthethirdchapter,translationerrorsintheforeignpublicitymaterialsareintroduced.Itisanattempttomanifestincorrecttranslationsbycitinganumberofexamples.ChapterFouristhemajorpartofthisthesis.OnthebasisofSkopostheorie,thepaperarguesthatthetarget-text-orientedstrategyshouldbeadoptedasthebasicstrategyofforeignpublicitytranslation.Bypracticalexamples,theauthorarguesthatthetranslatorsshouldadoptappropriatestrategieswhiletranslating,undertheguidanceof“translationbrief”:intendedtextfunctions,addressees,timeandplaceofreception,medium,motiveforthetargettext.Thisthesisfocusesonthefirsttwoitemsof“translationbrief”.Besides,sincecultureisthemostimportantfactorconsideredbyatranslatorinthelinguisticselectionsoftranslation,anin-depthanalysisofpurposefulculturaladaptationinpublicitytranslationwillbeconducted.Finally,thethesiscomestotheconclusionthatSkopostheorieisofguidingsignificancetoforeignpublicitytranslationandreiteratesthatthetranslationof83 foreignpublicitymaterialsistarget-text-orientedandpurposefuladaptationisacreativeandsuccessfulapproachintranslatingforeignpublicitymaterials.Meanwhile,theauthoralsosuggeststhatflawsanddeficienciesareunavoidableinspiteoftheauthor’sgreateffortsandagreatdealofworkorfurtherstudiesbedoneinforeignpublicitytranslation.Carryingonstudiesinthisfieldcanleadtopeople’srecognitionoftheimportanceofChinesepublicitytranslationandthushelptoimprovetheimageofChinaintheworld.ChapterOneGeneralIntroductiontoForeignPublicityandItsTranslationInternationalexchangeshavebeenincreasingsincetheimplementationofChina’sreformandopening-uppolicy.Underthiscircumstance,moreandmorepublicitymaterials,servedasinformationandculturecarriers,havebeenplayingmoreandmoreimportantrolesininternationalcommunicationandunderstanding.Withtheincoming2008OlympicGamesand2010WorldExpo,wecanexpecttheretobemorepublicitymaterialsneededtobetranslatedintoforeignlanguages.Itisimportanttoensurethatthetranslatedforeignpublicityisnotonlylinguisticallyaccurate,butalsoinconformitywiththeculture.Thisthesis,therefore,focusesonthetranslationofexistingforeignpublicitymaterials.Andinthischapter,definition,classificationandfunctionsofforeignpublicitymaterials,willbediscussedandthepurposeandsignificanceofC-EPublicitytranslationwillbestated.1.1ABasicViewofForeignPublicityMaterial1.1.1TheDefinitionofForeignPublicityandItsCharacteristicsInthemedia,wecanseethatChinesephraseduiwaixuanchuanistalkedaboutfrequently,butwecan’tfinditsdefinitioninmostChinesedictionariesoritsC-E83 dictionaries.TheDictionaryofPublicityandPublicOpinionsStudiesdefinesduiwaixuanchuanas“thekindofpublicityorientedtowardtheinternationalcommunity,whichincludespublicizingacountry’sprinciples,policies,domesticsituationaswellasthecountry’sstanceoninternationalissues.”(刘建明,1992:54)InformalChineselexicon,Xuanchuanreferstoputtingoutsomethingsoastomakethemassesknow.Here,thethesiswouldrenderXuanchuaninto“publicity”,whichmeans“thedisseminationofinformationofpromotionalmaterialortheinformationwithnewsvalueissuedasameansofgainingpublicattentionorsupport.”(Webster’sNewCollegiateDictionary,1973:932).Itmustbepointedoutherethatthetranslationoftheterm“duiwaixuanchuan”isopentoseveralpossibleversions—foreignpropaganda,foreignpublicity,overseasinformationandinternationalcommunication.Forthesakeofconsistency,itistranslatedas“foreignpublicity”inthisthesisandifnotspecified,thelanguageofforeignpublicitydiscussedhereisEnglish;itsaudiencereferstothosewhospeakEnglishastheirmothertongueorastheirsecondlanguage.Asaspecialliteraryform,foreignpublicity,differentfromliteraryworks,hasitsowncharacteristicsthatshouldnotbeignoredinitstranslation.ThisrequiresustodoourbesttomakeourpublicitytranslationclearandintelligiblewhenintroducingChinatotherestoftheworld.Firstofall,publicitymaterialscoveralmosteveryaspectofourlife,justtonameafew,includingpolitics,economy,culture,historyandtourism.ManyofthemareuniquetoChina,wecan’tfinditscorrespondingequivalentinEnglish;thus,anumberofexpressionswithChinesecharacteristicswillundoubtedlyposesomedifficultyinpublicitytranslation.Secondly,Chineselanguageusuallycontainsalotofflowerylanguage,whichisquitetheoppositetoEnglish.Englishpublicitymaterialspreferplainlanguageandfocusonofferingsubstantialinformation.IfwetranslateChinesepublicitymaterialsliterallywithoutanyadaptation,wemaygettheunwantedeffect.Finally,therearegreatdifferencesinthesocial,culturalandhistorical83 backgroundsandlanguagehabitsbetweensourcelanguagereadersandtargetlanguagereaders,sothatweshouldtakeourtargetlanguagereadersintoconsiderationineverypossiblewayandprovidethemwitheffectivebackgroundknowledge.Culturaldifferences,ifnotappropriatelydealtwith,maycauseunnecessarymisunderstandings.Publicityshouldbeeffectiveinasmanywaysaspossible:distinct,memorable,andmoreoftenthannot,descriptiveofthematerial.Aboveall,aneffectivepublicitytranslationshouldnotcarrypoormeaningsinothercultures.Inaword,thepeculiaritiesofourpublicitymaterialspropelus,insomeway,toresorttomorevariedtranslationstrategies.1.1.2ClassificationofForeignpublicityMaterialAccordingtoDuanLiancheng,publicitymaterialscanbedividedintoordinarypublicitymaterialsandformalpublicitymaterials.“Theformerreferstoreportsandarticlesinpublicitybooks,magazinesandvariouslocalpublicitypamphlets.Thesepublicitymaterialsgiveforeignersageneralideaofpolitics,economy,society,culture,history,lifeandplacesofhistoricalinterestinChina.Thelatterreferstoofficialdocuments,formalspeechesandbooksbyhigh-rankingofficials,diplomaticmemos,economicandtradecontracts,legaldocuments,materialsinscientificandtechnologicalexchanges,etc.”(段连城，1990:8)Inabroadsense,publicitymaterials,coveringawiderangeofareassuchaspolitics,economy,culture,history,tourism,socialdevelopment,etc,translationforforeignpublicityincludesallfieldsofforeignaffairs,cultureexchange,businessandtrade,scienceandtechnology,artandliterature.Inanarrowsense,itreferstotranslationofnews,publicsigns,advertisements,touristmaterialsandpamphlets,etc.BasedonDuan’sclassificationandsomerelevantinformationfromsomereferentialbooks,I’dliketodividethemintofourgroupsintermsoftheirmeansoftransmission:printmedialikenewspapers,magazines,booksandpamphlets,83 productmanuals,signs,etc;electronicmedialikeTVandradio;audiovisualmedialikefilms,VCRs,VCDs,DVDs,etcandtheso-calledfourthmedia—theInternet.1.1.3FunctionsofForeignPublicityMaterialPublicitymaterialsareusedinourdailylifeandhavegreateffectonourdailylife,ithasbroughtusconvenienceandgivenusgreathelp.Inthisthesis,wewilldiscussthetranslationofdifferenttypesofpublicmaterials.Althoughtheycoverawiderange,theyalsosharesomebasicfunctionsinspiteoftheirconcretefunctions.ThemainfunctionofforeignpublicitymaterialistoinformtheforeignerswhowanttoknowmoreaboutChinaofanythingrelatedincludingtheeconomy,politics,cultureandthevariousaspectsaboutChinesepeople’slife.AccordingtoNewmark’s(1981:36),languagehasthreemainfunctions,namelytheexpressivefunction,theinformativefunctionandthevocativefunction.Thusdifferenttexttypescanfindtheirownpositioninthethreefunctionsrespectivelyandtheyhavetheirowntranslationstrategies.Whenwemakeclearwhichfunctiontheforeignpublicitymaterialbelongto,wemayfindapropertranslationstrategyforthem.Withtherapiddevelopmentofglobalcommunication,foreignpublicitytranslationactsasthebridgebetweenforeignersandus.Toachievethispurpose,agoodpublicitymustprovideinformationaboutthematerial,atleastmakeourselvesunderstood.Thefunctionofforeignpublicitydependsonitstexttype,butinmostcases,itmustshowitspowerinservingthesocietyandconsolidatingtheimage.Accordingly,publicitymaterialsusuallyhavecompelling,informative,consolidatingandservingfunctions.1.1.3.1InformativeFunctionAsthenamesuggests,informativefunction,meanspublicitymaterialsmustbeinformativeorprovidesomeinformationforpeople.Asweallknow,publicitynames,oneoftheessentialpartsofpublicmaterials,shouldbeofhighinformativevalue.Withoutinformation,publicnamesaremeaninglessandvalueless.Allgoodpublicitynamescarryasmuchinformationaspossible.83 Informativefunctionisofgreatimportancetomakeforeignersawarewhattheywanttoknow.Publicityinformationtextisusuallypresentedatanearlystagewhentheyaredecidingwhattoget.Beforetheymakethedecisiontobuysomethingorvisitsomeplaceorsomeotherreasons,theymustfirstattainsomerelevantinformation.Throughtheforeignpublicitymaterials,theknowledgeaboutChineseculture,history,policyisinstilledintothereader’smindandthenanimageofthegovernmentisoutlinedthere.Thus,foreignpublicityshouldbeinformative.Forinstance,ascenicspot“Tianyahaijiao”(天涯海角)inHainanprovinceistranslatedas“Land’sEnd”or“TheEndsoftheEarth”whichmeantheloverswillfolloweachothertotheendsoftheearth.BoththeChineseandtranslatedversionaffordtherightinformation.Ifwetranslateitas“theEndoftheWorld”,I’mafraidnoonewillgothere.Hereareotherexamples:“浙江中路”(CentralZhejiangRd)onthecrossroad,“莘庄方向”(XinZhuangStation)atsubwaystation,“问询处”（Information）inalibraryorinahotel,“男厕所”(ToiletforMen),“女厕所”（ToiletforWomen）atscenicspots,“旅游纪念品”(Souvenirs),“中国建设银行”(ChinaConstructionBank),“便利店”(24-hourStore)indicatewhattheinstitutionisandtellyouwhatitdealswith.Informativefunctionalsoreferstousingtheinformationtoguidepeople’sbehavior.Thewordsofsuchpublicmaterialsarealwayssimpleandwithtoughtongue.Imperativesarepreferredinthiscircumstance,bothnegativelyandpositively.Forexample,“禁止吸烟”(NoSmoking),pointsoutsmokingisnotallowedhere,theimpliedmeaningisthatifonedisobeysthecommand,unwantedeffectwillcomeintobeing.“请勿接近”（Keepout）,acompellingcommandisexpressedtoforbidpeopletocomeclosebyusingasimpleimperative.1.1.3.2AttractiveFunctionAgoodforeignpublicitymaterialshouldbecapableofattractingforeigners’attention.Itisnodoubtthatapublicityinformationtextcannotattractpeople83 merelywiththehelpofitsinformativefunction.Well-writtenforeignpublicitymaterialsshouldbelivelyandvividsothattheycanpresentthemostoutstandingfeaturesofproductsorscenicspotsandattractthosepotentialcustomersorinvestors.Inaword,goodpublicitymaterialsshouldbeofaestheticvalue.Forexample:“以外贸企业为龙头”istranslatedas“withforeigntradefirmsasthelocomotive(orflagship)”.Ifwerender“龙头”into“dragon’shead”,foreignerswillimmediatelythinkofdevils,theywillhavenogoodimpressionsoftheenterprise,tosaynothingofinvestment.1.1.3.3ConsolidatingFunctionOnecity,evenonecountryneedstousepublicitymaterialstoestablishandconsolidateitsimage.Properpublicitymaterialsatisfiesconsumersandmakesthemattractedtothecertainproductsorcertainscenicspots.Publicitymaterialsarejustthefacesofthecity,theyimpresstheconsumers,especiallytheforeignconsumers.Accordingly,acity’simageisenhanced.SuchasasloganonEastNanjingRoad“欢迎你来到南京路”(WelcometoNanjingRoad),“同一个世界，同一个梦想”(OneWorld,OneDream),“施工正在进行。在您的帮助下，我们正在扩建地铁7号线”(Workhasstarted!Withyourhelpwearedevelopingthesubway,Line7).1.1.3.4ServingFunctionNotasthefunctionswementionedabove,publicitymaterialperformservingobligationtothegovernmentorcityorcountry.Forexample,“共同努力，世界更精彩”(Workingtogether,wecanmakeaworldofdifference),“为改善本市的空气质量，本车装有环保引擎”(Thisbusisfittedwithanenvironmentallycleanerenginehelpingtoimprovethecity’sairquality).Infact,thefunctionofforeignpublicitymaterialdependsonitsmaterialtype,therefore,thefunctionsmentionedabovearenotseparatedatall.Whenforeignpublicitymaterialsconveyinformationtotheforeigners,suchinformationmaybeattractiveatthesametime.Ifitachievestheeffectofbeingattractive,thenthereis83 nodoubtthatithelpstoconsolidatetheenterprise,thegovernment,eventhecountry’simageandservingobligationoftheforeignpublicityisthusachieved.Theabovefunctionsofforeignpublicitymaterialsarecloselyinterrelatedandareallofgreatimportancetofulfilltheultimatepurpose.ChineseandEnglishpublicitymaterialsbothsharethesefourfunctions.Basedonthefourfunctions,thethesiswillexploretheChinese-Englishtranslationofpublicitymaterials.1.2ThePurposeandSignificanceofC-EPublicityTranslationChinaisdevelopingitseconomyatadazzlingpaceandisbringingitselfinlinewiththeinternationaleconomywithChina’son-goingreformandopening-upandtheriseofitsinternationalstatus,sothatanurgentneedtoconductbroadexchangesandcooperationwiththerestoftheworldiscalledfor.Inasense,foreignpublicityplaysanirreplaceableroleinthisprocesswhilepublicitytranslationservesasacruciallinkinthisregard.Nowadays,oneofthemajorpurposesofforeignpublicityliesin“helpforeignersunderstandallaspectsofChina—political,economic,culturalandsocialaswellasitsforeignpolicy.Betterunderstanding,itisbelieved,willenhanceinternationalfriendshipandhencebenefitthecauseofChina’smodernizationandreunificationandcontributetoworldpeace”(段连城,2004:58).Otherpurposesmayincludeourcountry’straditionalculture,naturallandscapetoforeigners,etc.Asthefunctionofforeignpublicitymaterialsistoinformtheaudiencewhathapped,thepurposeofC-EtranslationofforeignpublicitymaterialsistointroducetheChineseculturetoforeignaudiencesattheaimofattractingthemtotravelaroundChina,understandChinaandeveninvestinchina.Inaword,thepurposeofforeignpublicityistohelpmoreforeignersknowmoreaboutChina.Thetranslationofforeignpublicityshouldalsoaimatachievingthesamepurpose.Theapproaching2008OlympicGamesinBeijingwillattractmillionsofpeoplefromallovertheworld.Chinesegovernmentmustmakebetterpreparationsfortheincomingforeigners,sothattheycanenjoytheirstayinChina.ThepurposeofC-E83 translationofforeignpublicityshouldemphasizethereadabilityofthetargettextandtheresponseofthetargetreaders.Therefore,aTT-orientedorreader-centeredtranslationstrategyseemstobemorereasonable..Inaddition,withtheChina’seconomicandpoliticalprogress,theChinesecultureinthelongrunwillgainitsduestatusintheworld.MoreChineseexpressionswillentertheEnglishlanguage,which,willtoacertaindegree,reversetheoverridingone-waytransferfromEnglishculturetoChineseculture.Nowadays,manyenterprisesopentheirproductsandserviceonlinetosynchronizewiththecommonpracticeoftheinternationalmarket.Moreover,withthearrivaloftheinformationageandthepopularizationoftheInternet,publicitytranslationhasnowbecomeanurgenttaskformanyenterprises.Asmoreandmoregovernmentunits,state-ownedenterprises,universitiesandsoforthputontheiragendathetranslationoftheirChinesewebsites,thistranslationprocesshasbecomeanintegralpartofoursociety’sinternationalization.Therefore,thein-depthresearchintothisareacarriesuntoldpositivesocialsignificance.ChapterTwoSkopostheorie－theTheoreticalFrameworkAsweknow,publicitymaterialtranslationiscomplexandmulti-disciplinary,involvingmanyfactorssuchaslanguage,culture,aestheticstandardsandsoon.Publicitymaterialtranslationisnotonlyalinguisticandculturaltransfer,butalsoaestheticstandardstransfer.Thetraditionalequivalence-basedapproachwherelexicalorsyntacticequivalencesplaythemostimportantpartseemsunabletoexplainthecomplicatedphenomenaappearedinpublicitymaterialtranslation.Sometimesthetranslationprocessisevenblockedbecauseofapparentuntranslatabilitywithconventionaltranslationmethods.Inthiscase,Skopostheorieservesasaneffectivetheoryanditoffersanewangleofviewforforeignpublicitymaterialtranslation.2.1AnOverviewofSkopos-orientedTranslationApproach83 Thefunctionalistapproachesintranslation,emergedasearlyas1970sinGermany,focuson“functionorfunctionsofthetextsandtranslations”(Nord,2001:1).Andthefunctionalapproachesconsistofthreeparts:KatharinaReiss’sworkontexttypeandlanguagefunction;JustaHolz-Manttari’stheoryoftranslationalaction;andHansJ.Vermeer’sSkopostheory.SkopostheoryisthecenteredpartofthisGermanschool.ReissandVermeerplayedakeyroleinbuildingthetheoryandChristianNorddevelopedamoredetailedtextanalysismodelthatcontinuedthefunctionalisttraditioninthe1990s.In1971,KatharinaReissfirstputforwardanewmodeloftranslationcriticismonthebasisofthefunctionalrelationshipbetweensourceandtargettexts,ortheparticularpurposeofatranslationactivity.InherbookPossibilitiesandLimitsofTranslationCriticism,whichmayberegardedasthestartingpointfortheacademicanalysisoftranslationinGermany,Reissintroducedafunctionalcategoryintoher“objectiveapproachtotranslationcriticism”.Communicativefunction,aswellasconceptualcontentandlinguisticformarethethreeelementarypartsofanidealtranslationaccordingtoReiss.Later,anotherGermantranslationtheoristH.J.Vermeer,astudentofReiss,haspointedoutseveraltimesthat“asageneralprinciple,thetranslationapproachesandtranslationstrategiesmustbedeterminedbytheintendedpurposeorfunctionofatranslation”(Nord,see陈小慰1998:9).Itisgenerallyagreednowthattranslationisatypeofhumanaction.AccordingtoVermeer,humanactionisintentionalandpurposefulbehaviorthattakesplaceinagivensituation,whichmodifiesthesituationatthesametime.In1984,ReissandVermeerformallystatedtheSkopostheorieorSkopostheory(陈小慰,1995)intheirco-authoredbookGeneralFoundationsofTranslationTheory.Inthisbook,thetraditionalconceptof“equivalence”wasquestionedand“adequacy”wassuggested.Theyfoundthatthereexistsituationsinwhichequivalencearenotpossibleandnotevendesiredinsomecases.Inthecaseofpublicitymaterialtranslation,thetargettext,thoughoneorafewwordsorChinesecharacters,isintendedtoachieveapurposeorfunction,yetinmanycases,83 equivalenceseemsimpossible,especiallywhenculturalimplicationsareinvolvedwhentranslating.Forexample,“精神文明”canhardlyfindanEnglishequivalent,since“精神文明”wementionedinChinameansthepromotioninculturalandethicallevel.Ifwetranslate“精神文明”into“spiritualcivilization”whichimpliesthatwearenowstillinasavagestate,thuscontradictsthewholepurposeofpublicity,neitherthetransliterationas“jingshenwenming”northeliteraltranslationas“spiritualcivilization”canreproducethisveryconnotation.Therefore,insuchsituations,thefunctionalperspectivetakesprecedenceoverthenormalstandardsofequivalence.Vermeerconsiderstranslationtobeatypeoftransferwherecommunicativeverbalandnon-verbalsignsaretransferredfromonelanguageintoanother.Therefore,heintroducesthetheoryofhumanactionintotheresearchoftranslation.Accordingtoactiontheory,Vermeerdefineshumanactionasintentional,purposefulbehaviorthattakesplaceinagivensituation;itispartofthesituationatthesametimeasitmodifiesthesituation.Further,healsotakesculturalelementsintoaccount.Hethought“sincesituationsareembeddedincultures,anyevaluationofaparticularsituation,ofitsverbalizedandnon-verbalizedelements,dependsonthestatusithasinaparticularculturesystem.”Hethinks“Anyformoftranslationaction,includingthereforetranslationitself,maybeconceivedasanaction,asthenameimplies.Anyactionhasanaim,apurpose.…ThewordSkopos,thenisatechnicaltermfortheaimorpurposeofatranslation.…anaction(which)leadstoaresult,anewsituationorevent,andpossiblytoa“new”object.(Vermeer,seeNord2001:11-12).IntheframeworkofVermeer’stheory,itiseasytotellthatthestatusofthesourcetextismuchlowerinSkopostheorythaninequivalence-basedtheories.Heregardsitasan“offerofinformation”thatispartlyorwhollyturnedintoan“offerofinformation”forthetargetaudience.Theaddressee－theintendedreceiveroraudienceinthetargetlanguageandculturewithexpectationsandcommunicativeneedsdetermineatranslationpurpose.AsVermeerputsit,totranslateis“toproduceatextinatargetsettingforatargetpurposeandtargetaddresseesintargetcircumstances.”(Vermeer,seeNord2001:12).Wenoticethat83 heresourcetextisnotmentioned,thusthestatusofthesourcetextisobviouslylowerthanthetargettextinSkopostheorie.WhatSkopostheorieemphasizesisnotthefunctionoftheoriginal,butthefunctionorsetoffunctionsthetargettextistoachieve.JustaHolz-ManttarigoesonestepfurtherthanVermeer.Inhertheoryandmethodologyof“translationalaction”,shemovesawayfromthetraditionalconceptsandexpectationsconnectedwiththeword.Shedefinestranslationas“acomplexactiondesignedtoachieveaparticularpurpose”,andthepurposeof“translationalaction”istotransfermessagesacrosscultureandlanguagebarriersbymeansoftransmittersproducedbytranslators.(Nord2001:13)InJustaHolz-Manttari,therolesvariouskindsoftheparticipantsandthesituationalconditionsinwhichtheiractivitiestakeplacearestressedandanalyzed.ChristianeNord’scontributiontothefunctionalismistheprinciple“skoposplusloyalty”.Sheadmitsthatthebasicprincipleofskopostheoryis“thetranslationmethodisdeterminedbythepurposeofthetargettext”.However,incaseofthat,thetranslatorsmightwanttooverridethesource-textauthor’scommunicativeintentionsjusttoachievethepurposedefinedbytheclientortopleasethetargetaudience.Inthiscase,loyaltymeansthatthetarget-textpurposeshouldbecompatiblewiththeoriginalauthor’sintentions.OnthebasisofthetheoriesofReiss,Vermeer,andHolz-Manttari,Norddefinestranslationastheproductionofafunctionaltext,whichtriestospecifytheintendedordemandedfunctionofthetargettext(陈小慰,1998).Inthisdefinition,emphasisislaidontherelationshipbetweenthesourceandtargettexts.2.2SomeConceptsRelevanttoSkopostheorie2.2.1TheSkoposAstranslatingisseenasapurposeactivityinSkopostheory,therelatedconceptsmustbeofgreatimportanceindiscussingtheprocessingoftranslation.Beforegoingfurther,itwillbebettertomakeanexplanationoftwoimportant83 concepts,skoposandtranslationbrief.SkoposisaGreekwordfor“purpose”(Nord2001:27).Astheword“Skopostheorie”indicates,Skopos/purposeistheprimeprinciplethatdeterminesanytranslationprocess.Intranslationstudy,thetermSkopos/purposeusuallyreferstothecommunicativepurposeofthetargettext,althoughtheword“purpose”maymeandifferently,Nord(2001:27)arguesthattherearethreepossiblekindsofpurposeinanytranslationalaction:thegeneralpurposeofthetranslatorinthetranslationprocess(e.g.makingmoney),thecommunicativepurposeofthetargettextinthetargetculture(e.g.enlighteningthereader)andthepurposeaimedataparticulartranslationstrategyortranslationprocedure(e.g.toexplainthespecificationofagrammarorstructureofacertainlanguage,tokeepthestructuresintactortoadopttheliteraltranslationstrategies).Inthefieldofforeignpublicitymaterialtranslation,thepossiblepurposecanbeappliedintheconsiderationofthecountry’simage,whichmayincludefactorsofculture,differentwaysofthinking,andaesthetics.2.2.2TranslationBriefSkopostheorieclaimsthatthetranslationpurposeisdefinedbythetranslationbrief,whichisapartofthetranslationcommissiongivenbytheinitiator.Theinitiatoristheperson,group,orinstitutionthatstartsoffthetranslationprocessanddeterminesitscoursebydefiningthepurposeforwhichthetargettextisneeded.(Nord2001:20).Itisbelievedinfunctionalisttheorythatitistheinitiatorwhodeterminesthecommunicativefunctionofthetranslation.Initiatorsmayhavecommunicativepurposesoftheirown,ortheymaysharethoseofeitherthesenderorthereceiver.Aclientneedsatextforaparticularpurposeandcallsuponthetranslatorforatranslation,thusactingastheinitiatorofthetranslationprocess.Allthesemakeupthe“translationbrief”.(Nord2001:30)andthe“translationbrief”specifieswhatkindoftranslationisneeded.Thisiswhytheinitiatororthepersonplayingtheroleofinitiator(whomightalsobethetranslator)actuallydecidesonthe83 translation.Eventhoughthebriefassuchmaynotbeexplicitabouttheconditions,everytranslationtaskshouldthusbeaccompaniedbyabriefthatdefinestheconditionsunderwhichthetargettextshouldcarryoutitsparticularfunction.Inthispaper,wetaketheenterprise/country/governmentastheinitiatorofthepublicitymaterialtranslation.Asafact,thetranslationofpublicitymaterialisnormallydonebycertainpurpose.Thegovernmentcallsuponthetranslatorforatranslation,thusactingastheinitiatorofthetranslationprocess.Thefunctionthetextisintendedtohave,explainingwhetheritisusedtoinform(describetheplace/thingsattributesorthecountry’simage),facilitatethememory(tocreateanunforgettableimage),orpleasetheforeignvisitors(triggerpositiveassociationandadapttothetargetculture),etc.Thiskindofinformationwillinstituteanexplicitorimplicittranslationbrief.2.2.3ThreeRulesandTheirRelationship“Intratextualcoherence”meansthereceivershouldbeabletounderstandthetargettext;itshouldmakesenseinthecommunicativesituationandcultureinwhichitisreceived.“Coherencerule”,specifiesthatatranslationshouldbeacceptableinasensethatitiscoherentwiththereceivers’situation.Thetranslationshouldbecoherenttothetargetreceivers’situationinordertobeacceptable.Bycoherencerulethetranslatorisexpectedtoproduceatextconformingtotheexpectationofthetargetreaders.Thetextshouldbeinterpretabletothereadersgiventotheirbackgroundsituationandknowledge.Thefidelityruleconcernsintertextualcoherencebetweenthetargettextandsourcetext.ItsformdependsonhowthetranslatorinterpretstheSTandthetranslationskopos.Sotobemorespecific,itmeanscoherencebetweentheSTinformationreceivedbythetranslator,theinterpretationthetranslatormakesoftheinformationandtheinformationthatisencodedfortheTTreceivers(Munday,2001:80).Itmeansatranslationasaprecedingofferofinformation,isexpectedtobearsomekindofrelationshipwiththecorrespondingsourcetext.Theimportant83 pointisthatintertextualcoherenceshouldexistbetweensourceandtargettext,whiletheformittakesdependsbothonthetranslator’sinterpretationofthesourcetextandonthetranslationskopos.Onepossiblekindofintertextualcoherencecanbeamaximallyfaithfulimitationofthesourcetext.Inforeignpublicitytranslation,thismaybethatthetranslatedversionwillbearcertainrelationshipwiththesequenceofthesourcetextespeciallyinsomepoliticaltext.SkoposruleisthethemeofthetoprankingruleinSkopostheory.Vermeer’sskoposrulereadsasfollows:“Therefore,eachtextisproducedforagivenpurposeandshouldservethispurpose.Weshouldtranslate/interpret/speak/writeinawaythatenablesyourtext/translationtofunctioninthesituationinwhichitisusedandwiththepeoplewhowanttouseitandpreciselyinthewaytheywantittofunction”(Nord,2001:29).AccordingtotheSkoposrule,thetranslatormusttranslateinaccordancewithsomeprinciplesrespectingthetargettext.Thisdoesnotmeanthatweshouldalwaysreproducethefunctionalelementsinthesourcetext,butthatweshouldadapttotheaddressee’sbackgroundknowledge,expectations,andcommunicativeneeds,sincethereader,orrather,theaddressee,isthemainfactordeterminingtheSkopos.Inskopostheory,intertextualcoherencedoesnotalwaysmeanamaximalimitationoftheST.ButasVermeersuggests,itisagoalortheformexpectedinliterarytranslation.Intertextualcoherenceisconsideredsubordinatetointratextualcoherence,andbotharesubordinatetotheskoposrule.Iftheskoposrequiresachangeoffunction,thestandardwillnolongerbeintertextualcoherencewiththesourcetextbutadequacyorappropriatenesswithregardtotheskopos.2.3SignificanceofSkopostheorietoPublicityMaterialsTranslation2.3.1TheRoleofSourceTextandTranslatorSkopostheoryhasbroughtanewconceptforthestatusoftheSTandTT.AstheSTisjust“anofferofinformation”(Nord,2001:31),theSTisnotthesupremeyardstickforthetranslation.TheTTbecomesthefocus.Thetranslatorcanadapthis/83 hertranslationstrategyaccordingtotranslationpurpose.Thetranslatorcanbereleasedfromthe“restrictionsimposedbyanarrowlydefinedconceptofloyaltytotheSTalone”(Baker,2004:238)andhavetheinitiativeintranslation.Thetranslatoristheexpertintranslationalaction.Heisresponsiblefortheperformanceofthecommissionedtask,forthefinaltranslation(Vermeer,seeNord2001).Thetranslator’sresponsibilityasanexpertistoanalyzetheacceptabilityandviabilityofthetranslationbriefinlegal,economicorideologicalterms;checkwhetherthetranslationisreallyneeded;specifytheactivitiesrequiredforcarryingoutthebriefandperformatranslationalaction,whichmayresultinatargettext,perhapsashortsummaryofthesourcetextor,inspecialcases,inadvisingtheclientnottohavethesourcetexttranslatedbecauseatranslationwouldnotservetheintendedpurpose(Nord2001:21).Translationisessentiallyaresultofselectionstrategiesandadecisionmakingprocess.2.3.2AdequacyandEquivalenceWithintheframeworkofskopostheorie,“adequacy”referstothequalitiesofatargettextwithregardtothetranslationbrief:thetranslationshouldbe“adequateto”therequirementsofthebrief.Itisadynamicconceptrelatedtotheprocessoftranslationalactionandreferringtothe“goal-orientedselectionofsignsthatareconsideredappropriateforthecommunicativepurposedefinedinthetranslationassignment”.(Reiss,1989:163).While,“equivalence”,ontheotherhand,isastatic,result-orientedconceptdescribingarelationshipof“equalcommunicativevalue”betweentwotextsor,onthelowerranks,betweenwords,phrases,sentences,syntacticstructuresandsoon.Inthiscontext“value”referstomeaning,stylisticconnotationsorcommunicativeeffect.AccordingtoSkopostheory,theintendedpurposesoftheTTdeterminethetranslationstrategiesandthecriterionfortranslationevaluationis“adequacy”,not“equivalence”.InSkopos,equivalencemeansadequacytoaskoposthatrequiresthatthetargettextservethesamecommunicativefunctionorfunctionsasthesourcetext,thuspreserving‘invariance83 offunctionbetweensourceandtargettext’(Nord2001:35-36).ForReiss,thegenericconceptisadequacy,notequivalence.Equivalencemaybeonepossibleaimwhentranslatingbutitisnotheldtobeatranslationprinciplevalidonceandforall(Nord2001:36).Astrivingforequivalencesometimesleadstoincoherentorinconsistenttranslations.Functionalism,breakingtheconfinementofpreviousequivalence-basedtheories,showsthepossibilityofdiversificationinpublicitymaterialtranslation.ChapterThreeGeneralIntroductiontoProblemsandErrorsinC-ETranslationofForeignPublicityThelastfewyearswitnessedariseofforeignpublicitymaterials.Manyofthesebilingualtextsarewellprintedwithbeautifullayouts,buthavecommonproblemsintheEnglishversions.Theseproblemsintranslationnotonlyaffectthequalityofcommunication,butevencausenegativeresponsetothebuildingofChina’simage.EveninmetropoliseslikeShanghai,which,asoneofthecountry’seconomiccenters,attractsmillionsofforeigntourists,businesspeopleandsoonfromallovertheworldeveryyear,onecaneasilyfindmistakesalongitsstreets,letaloneintownsorsmallcities.QiuKe’an,afamoustranslator,saystothepointthat“ThepresenttranslationqualityofChinesematerialsnationwide,rangingfromliteraryworks,politicaldocuments,signsandsloganstoscenicspotintroductions,isfarfromsatisfactory.Insometranslation,thefrequentappearanceofmistakespreventsthereadersfromfinishingit.Allthismustbeimprovedwithoutdelay.”(裘克安,1999:45).Theseproblemscanbedividedintotwogroups:linguistictranslationerrorsand83 othertranslationerrors,beitcultural,pragmaticortext-specific.Linguisticerrorsareeasilyidentified,suchasspellingandgrammaticalerrors.Thepaperwillnotgointodetailsonthisgroupofproblems,butfocusonthesecondgroup.ThesecondgroupoftranslationproblemexistsmainlyduetoourlackofreceiverorientationandneglectofthefeaturesoftheEnglishlanguageandculture.Sometimes,wealwaysgiveaword-for-wordrendering,whichdoesn’tsuitforeigners’culturalpsychologyandreadinghabit.3.1ImproperExpressionAsloganonEastNanjingRoadreads“欢迎你来到南京路”—“WelcomeYoutoNanjingRoad”.Althoughtheusageof“welcome”hasbeenacliché,whatisstrangehereisthataftersomanyyearsofcriticismtowardthetranslationofthisChinesesentencepattern“欢迎你来…”,suchahowlerstillappearedinNanjingRoadin2005,crownedasChina’sNo.1commercialstreet.Needlesstosay,itshouldhavebeentranslatedas“WelcometoNanjingRoad”or“YouarewelcometoNanjingRoad.”ThismistakeismainlyduetothefactthatsomeChinesetranslatorsarepronetoputsuchChinesesentencepatternsinaword-for-wordmanner,whiletheirEnglishcounterpartsaredifferentinsentencepatterns.TheaboveexamplehasbeentranslatedregardlessoftheusageoftheEnglishverb“welcome”,whichcannotbeusedinthesentencepattern“welcomesbtosomeplace”.Similarly,wecanseesuchimpropertranslationas“上车”(up)，“下车”(down).Anotherimportantaspectofimproperexpressionisthechoiceofwords,whichhaslongbeenimportantforbothtranslatorsandwriters.Wemustbecarefulinchoosingtherightwordfortherightcontext.Inagreatnumberofpublicitymaterials,however,suchmistakesdocauseconfusionamongforeignersandseemquiteridiculoustothem.Forexample:“租船须知”（aplacardinapark）wastranslatedas“rentednotice”.Inthescenicspots,touristscanrentboats,bikes,orotherequipment,yetherethepastparticiple“rented”isusedasanadjective,83 meaningsomethinghasalreadybeenusedbyothersinreturnforpayment.Whileanotherword“rental”,meaningtheactionofrenting,isadaptedinEnglishasanattributivetomodifynouns,suchas“rentalcharges”for“租金费”(OxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish-ChineseDictionary,fourthedition:1268).Inthisexample,theChinesephrasemeans“出租”.Therefore,“RentalNotice”isabettertranslatedversion.Herearesomeotherexamples:Ithasbeen15yearssincethefirstsubwaylinewasputintooperationinShanghaiin1993.However,onthesubwayticketshasalwaysbeenprinted“SingleJourneyTicket”,includingtherecentlyadoptednewticketsforMetroLine6，8，9(November,2007).InEnglish,“singleticket”simplymeans“单程票”while“returnticket”(BrE)or“roundtripticket”(AmE)means“回程票”.Likewise,“长江”shouldbetranslatedas”ChangjiangRiver”或“YangtzeRiver”insteadof“LongRiver”or“ChangRiver”;“敬老院”canbetranslatedas“seniorcitizens'home”insteadof“oldmen'shome”.Sometimes,thechoiceofwordsisveryimportantforbothtranslatorsandwriters.Wemustbecarefulinchoosingtherightwordfortherightcontext.Inagreatnumberofpublicitymaterials,however,suchmistakesdocauseconfusionamongforeignersandseemquiteridiculoustothem.3.2ConfusionofPeople’sNamesandPlaceNamesEspeciallyinthescenicspots,we’llbeconfusedbyscenicspotstranslation.Asweknow,thenamesofthescenicspotsarealwaysofclassicelegance,whichpostanobstacleforuswhiletranslation.Generallyweusethemethodofpinyinorpinyinplusexplanation.Whatmakespersonbaffledisthatthere’redifferentversionsofthesamescenicspotname.Forexample:There’rethreedifferentversionsof“静海寺”inbrochuresandplacards,theyare:“AncientJinghaiTemple”,“JinghaiTemple”,“QuietSeaTemple”.In“ZhongshanLing”placards,wecansee“三绝碑”istranslatedas:“SanjueTablet”,“StoneTabletofThreeUniqueness”,“ThreeExcellences”.Forforeigntourists,they’llmisunderstandthere’resixdifferentscenicspots,butactuallythere’reonlytwo83 scenicspots.Althoughitisidealtotranslatetheimpliedmeaningofplacenames,inreality,however,manyplacenamesinscenicspotsaretranslatedbyChinesePinyin.It’stheauthor’sopinionthatChinesePinyincouldlettheforeignersfeelthepronunciationofChineselanguage,butproperinterpretationshouldbeaddedtoembodythemeaningofthename.Forexample,“兴国寺”istranslatedas“XingGuo”plus“temple”,partialtransliterationandpartialmeaningtranslation.AtthesightofthisnameinEnglish,foreignerscanonlyknowit’sthenameofatemple,buthavenoideaasforthemeaningofthetemple.Inthiscase,interpretationshouldbeaddedtogivetheforeignersadeeperimpression.ThesuggestedEnglishversionis“XingGuoTemple,templeofnationalprosperity,locatedinthenortheastsuburbsofthecapitalcity”.Asforsomefamouspeople’snames,wealwaysreadtheminnewspapersandmagazines,thenhowtotranslatethem?HowtomakeiteasierforEnglish-speakingpeopletolearn?Forexample,insideMemorialofMeiyuanNewVillage（梅园新村纪念馆）inNanjing,thereareintroductionstopicturesandculturalrelicsondisplay,amongsomeofwhichcanbefound“ChiangKai-shek”whileamongothers“JiangJieshi”.Thetraditionaltranslationfor“蒋介石”hasbeen“ChiangKai-shek”,soweshouldsticktothistranslationlestforeignersmistakethetwonamesfortwodifferentpersons.Sometimeswecanseemanypeople’snamesconsistingoftwopartsinmagazines,theyare:theEnglishnameandWadespelling.Wade-GilesSpellingSystemwasinventedbytwoBritishpersons－WadeandGilesinthe1870s.Itoriginallyaimedatmakingiteasierforforeigners,especiallyEnglish-speakingpeople,tolearnChinese.LateritwascommonlyusedtospellthenamesofChinesepersonsandplaces.Afterthe1950s,thesystemwasgraduallyreplacedbypinyinonthemainlandbutitisretainedinHongkong,TaiwanandMacao.Forinstance,JetLi—李连杰，JackieChen—成龙，JackyCheung－张学友,AndyLau－刘德华,JamesSoongChu-yu－宋楚瑜,RunRunShaw－邵逸夫,ChiangKai-shek（蒋介石）,LienChan83 （连战）andTungChee-hwa（董建华）.Withregardtotheirtraditions,weusuallytranslatetheirnamesaccordingtoWade-GilesSpellingSystemratherthanpinyin.SuchnamesarealsoadoptedbyChinaDaily,ShanghaiDaily,BeijingReviewandmedialikeVOAandBBC.SometimeswemayaswelladdpinyininbracketsbehindEnglishnamesandWadespellingtohelpforeignersbetterunderstandChinesefigures,especiallyforthoseoverseasChineseandforeignresidentsonthemainlandwhoknowmoreaboutChinathannativespeakers.Bytheway,propernamesonthemainlandshouldbetranslatedinpinyinratherthanWadespelling.Intranslatingfamouspeople’snamesinforeignpublicitymaterials,wemustbearinmindthatforforeigners,theymayhavelearnedfromwesternmediathenamesofChina’spoliticalleaders,suchasMaoZedongandDengXiaoping,butfewofthemmayknowthenameofotherfamousChinesepeople.Forexample,Sourcetext:“保卫和平”四个字为郭沫若同志所题。Targettext:TheinscriptionofitwaswrittenbyComradeGuoMoruo.Here,GuoMoruo,aChinesehistorian,writer,poetandplaywright,isahouseholdnameforChinesepeople.Forforeigners,theymaynotknowthenameofGuoMoruo.Inthiscase,aninterpretationisagainneeded.ThesuggestedEnglishversionisasfollowing:“TheinscriptionofitwaswrittenbyComradeGuoMoruo,afamousChinesehistorian,writer,andpoetinthe20thcentury”.3.3MishandlingofInformationInmostcases,therealmeaningofaworddoesn’tlieinitsliteralmeaning,thereforeweshouldmasteritsexactimplicitmeaningtorenderitintothetargetlanguagecorrectlyintranslation.Forexample,“拳头产品”isrenderedinto“fistproduct”,whichleavestheforeignreadersgreatpuzzlement.“拳头产品”means“theproductwhichsellswellandenjoysgreatmarket”inChinese,buttheversionof“fistproduct”hasnothingtodowithsuchmeaning,thuscausescommunicationbreakdown.Thesuggestedversionis“knockoutproduct”or“hardpunchproduct”83 or“productwithacompetitiveedge”inordertoconveytheexactmeaning.Whenwetranslatepublicitymaterials,weshoulddosomeadaptationsintermsofcontent,otherwisewe’llmishandletheinformation.ButsometimeseveryiteminthematerialsisalwaystranslatedfromtheSL,manyofwhicharenotsuitableforforeignaudience,suchastoomuchemptytalkandunnecessarydetails.Soforeignreadermaynotbeinterestedinthetranslatedversion.Forexample:SourceText:这里3000座奇峰拔地而起，形态各异，有的似玉柱神鞭，立地顶天；有的像铜墙铁壁，巍然屹立；有的如晃板垒卵，摇摇欲坠；有的若盆景古董，玲珑剔透……神奇而又真实，迷离而又实在，不是艺术胜似艺术创造，令人叹为观止。TargetText:3000cragsriseinvariousshapes.Theyarelikewhipsorpillarsproppingupthesky;orhugewalls,solidandsound;orimmenseeggspiledonanunsteadyboard;orminiaturerockyorcurios…Fantasticbutactual,dreamybutreal!Theyarenotartisticworks,butmoreexquisitethanartisticworks.OnecannothelpmarvelingattheacmeoftheperfectionofNature’screation.(fromatouristbrochure,see喻旭燕，2003:12)Thetranslatedversioncanbecalled“faithful”toacertainstandard,butitisflashywithfanciful,overblownassertions.Suchaversionusuallywon’tbeabletoproduceanemotionalappealtoforeignaudienceastheChineseversiondoestodomesticaudience.3.4InadequateTranslationofPoliticalTermsSomepoliticalslogansweareusingaredifficultforforeignerstounderstand,forexample,“eightdo'sanddon'ts”(八荣八耻),wasissuedinanewspaperasanantidotetothecorruptionandcynicismspreadingacrossChina,aresultoftherawcapitalismthathasemergedduringmanyyearsofdramaticeconomicchange.Searchingtheweb,wecanfindatleasttwoversionsof“八荣八耻”－“eight83 do'sanddon'ts”and“eighthonorsandeightdisgraces”.Bothofthemaregoodtranslation,especiallytheformerwhichisinimitationof“do’sanddon’ts”inEnglish.TheproblemfortheformeristhatthereisanotherexpressionwhichhasalreadybeenrenderedintoEnglishas“eightdo'sanddon'ts”－“八个坚持八个反对”.If“八荣八耻”isstilltranslatedas“eightdo'sanddon'ts”,thenitwillbeconfusingforforeignerstoidentifywhichisactuallyreferredto－“八荣八耻”or“八个坚持八个反对”?Soitmightbebettertorender“八荣八耻”into“eighthonorsandeightdisgraces”assuggestedinthethirdissueofChineseTranslatorsJournal(2006)－theproposedtranslationof“八荣八耻”isalso“eight-honorandeight-shame”.(汉译英时事政经用语选登,2006(3):95)Anotherexampleis“三个代表”(thepartymustalwaysrepresenttherequirementofthedevelopmentofChina’sadvancedproductiveforces,theorientationofthedevelopmentofChina’sculture,andthefundamentalinterestsoftheoverwhelmingmajorityofthepeopleinChina.),ifwetranslateitas“ThreeRepresents”withoutanyfurtherexplanation,theforeignerwillbeatalossastheyarenotfamiliarwiththebackground.Besides,thecorrectnessinthechoiceofwordsisofgreatsignificanceinconveyingtheexactmeaning,leavingnoroomforsomeforeignreaderswithill-intentiontodistortthefact.Forexample,“达赖喇嘛不是真正意义上的传教徒”,it’shardtorender“真正意义上”correctly.ThetranslationversionfromtheMinistryofForeignAffairsgoeslikethis“DaLaiLaMaisnotarealreligiouspractitionerintheordinarysense”.3.5InappropriateToneExpressionmodeshavebeenformedtoexpresscertainsentencepatternssuchasplacard.SinceEnglishandChineseexpressionmodesaredifferent,translatorsshouldgetfamiliarwiththetargetexpressionpattern.AccordingtoChineseexpressionmode,“禁止吸烟”,“不准攀登”willbetranslatedas:“Don’tsmoke”,“Don’tclimbup”respectively,thusresultsininappropriatetone.Thecommunicationeffectsofpublicitytranslationcanbeaffectedbyitstone.Dueto83 differentcultures,Chinesereadersreactdifferentlyfromwesternersatthesightofcertainsigns.Itisacceptableforustoseesuchsignsabove,whichprohibitusfromdoingsomethinginadirectmanner.Theysoundneithergratingontheearnoroffendingtotheeye.However,beforeweputthemintoEnglish,weshouldconsiderwhethertheycanbeacceptedbyourEnglishreadersinthesamewayastoodirectorexplicitexpressionsarenotwelcomeamongEnglishspeakers.“勿踩草地”wasrenderedinto“Don’tstamponthegrass”or“Don’ttreadonthegrass”.Suchimperativesinaharshtonearereallyhardforforeignerstoaccept.Theymayask,“Dowelacksocialethicssuchastostamponthegrass?”Amorepolitewayofsayingthismaybe“Keepoffthegrass”.Alotofpassivesentencesandnull-subjectsentencescanbefoundinsigns,postersandsoforth.Asigninafriendlytonecanbeeasilyacceptedbyforeignerswhileasigninaharshtonewillprobablymakethemangryandyieldtheoppositeeffect.Therefore,intranslatingtheseplacards,weshouldfollowtheEnglishexpressionmodeof“No+v-ing”.“No”doesnotmeannegativehere,butmeans“prohibition”.Therefore,theabovetwoplacardsaretranslatedinto“Nosmoking”and“Noclimbing”.Similarly,thecommonsignslike“旅客止步”or“闲人莫入”intrains,ships,factoriesandsoonshouldnotbetranslatedas“Passengersstophere”and“Strangersareforbidden”.Theysoundsortofacommandoranordertoforeignreaders.AsimilarexpressioninEnglish—“Employees/Staffonly”—soundsmorefriendlytothem.Wemustkeepitinmindthatindifferentculturesweshouldstrivetomakesureourtranslationshouldbeacceptabletoforeignersevenatthecostofchangingitsform.Here,wecannoticethatnegativesentencesaretranslatedintopositivesentences.3.6ChinglishJoanPinkhamdefinesChinglishinherbookTheTranslator’sGuidetoChinglishinthisway:“Chinglish,ofcourse,isthatmisshapen,hybridlanguagethatisneitherEnglishnorChinesebutthatmightbedescribedas‘EnglishwithChinese83 characteristics’”.（Pinkham,Joan,2000:1）.“好好学习，天天向上”（goodgoodstudy,daydayup）isatypicalexample.Englishtranslationmustmeetthetargetreaders’grammarhabit,otherwisetheywillgetconfused.Chinglishcanberoughlydividedintothreecategories.3.6.1Word-for-wordTranslationThoughweallknowthebadconsequencesofword-for-wordtranslation,itstillappearsinourpublicitytranslationfrequently.Word-for-wordtranslationappearsfrequentlyintouristinformation,especiallyinnotices,boardsandtags.Thereisnodenyingthefactthatinsomepeople’smind,translationisthemeretransformationofonelanguage’swordsintoanother—theirso-called“codeswitch”.Forexample:SourceText:世界文化遗产－明孝陵旅游文化纪念品TargetText:WorldCulturalHeritage—XiaolingTomboftheMingDynastyTouristandCulturalSouvenirs(李爱珍,2005:15)Thetargetversionseemstoexactlycorrespondwiththesourcetext,howeveritonlyfocusestheforminsteadofthemeaningandstructureoftheEnglishlanguage.Consequently,aword-for-wordtranslationleadstonothingbutconfusionforanyforeignerwhowantstobuythesouvenirs.Herethecenterwordis“souvenirs”,otherwordsaresubordinateto“souvenirs”,therefore,thesecondversionisabetterchoice:“TouristandCulturalSouvenirsoftheWorldCulturalHeritage—XiaolingTomboftheMingDynasty”.Let’sseeanotherexample:Sourcetext:旅游票务中心特价销售飞机票，火车票Targettext:Traveltheticketscenteratabargainpricesaleairplaneticket,trainticket.Thetranslatedversionisjustlikewordsandexpressionspiledupintheorderofthesourcetext,theChinesesentence.ChineseandEnglishdifferfromeachotherinexpressionmodeandwordorder,thetranslatorfailstorespectthelanguageandcultureofthetargetreaders.Therefore,suchtranslationwillbaffletheforeign83 readersandembarrassaChinesewhoknowssomethingaboutbothlanguages.Here,thetranslatordoesn’ttransfertheinformationinthesourcetextatallandfailstorealizetheintendedtextfunctionwhichwillbediscussedinChapterFourindetail.ThesuggestedEnglishversionisthefollowing:“Airplaneticketsandtrainticketsaresoldatdiscountintheticketoffice”.3.6.2RedundancyRedundancymeansthatanywords,whichperformnousefulfunctioninthesentence-thatis,whichaddnothingtothemeaning-shouldbeeditedout.AsWilliamStrunk,Jr.andE.B.WhitestateinthefamousbookTheElementofStyle,“Vigorouswritingisconcise.Asentenceshouldcontainnounnecessarywords,aparagraphnounnecessarysentences,forthesamereasonthatadrawingshouldhavenounnecessarylinesandamachinenounnecessaryparts.”(WilliamStrunk,1979:65).Redundancycanbefoundinanypartofspeech—nouns,adjectives,adverbs,verbs,articles,prepositionsandsoforth.“AlmosteverytexttranslatedintoEnglishfromChinese,(orthathasbeenwrittendirectlyinEnglishbyanativespeakerofChinese)containsunnecessarywords.”(Pinkham,Joan,2001:1).“UnnecessarywordsarethehallmarkofChinglish.”(Pinkham,Joan,2001:2).Insomecases,theoriginalChinesemeaninghasbeenimpliedintheEnglishwordsandneedsnofurtherelaboration,whileinothercases,pseudo-equivalentsbetweenChineseandEnglishcanalsoleadtowordredundancy.Forexample:Sourcetext:市政府正式禁止在公共场所吸烟(公益广告)TargetText:Thecitygovernmentofficiallyprohibitssmokinginpublic.Inthiscase,“正式禁止”istranslatedas“officiallyprohibits”.Itisatypicalexampleofword-for-wordtranslation.Infact,“prohibit”implies“officially”,andfurtherelaboration“officially”can’taddanysense.TheoriginalmeaningisobviouslyshownintheEnglishversionwithouttheneedoffurtherelaboration.Thefollowingexampleisthesameproblemthatweoftenseeinthetouristmanualsormagazines:.83 “Thisancienttownhasahistoryofmorethan900yearsoldwithmanyhousesbuiltintheMingandQingDynasties”(ATouristManualtoZhouzhuang).Theword“old”addsnothingtothemeaningofthesentencebutinsteadmakesitunidiomatic.Whenitisdeleted,thesentencebecomesmoreclarified.Similarly,superfluousverbs,adverbs,etcifremoved,willnotaffectthemeaningofthetranslatedsentenceatall.Similarly,“彻底粉碎”istranslatedas“completelysmash”.“smash”implies“breakcompletely”andfurtherelaboration“completely”cannotaddanysense;“完全征服”istranslatedas“completelyconquer”,butinfacthowcan“conquer”be“partly”?“极为可耻”isrenderedinto“extremelyshameless”andgrammatically,“shameless”expressesthesuperlativedegree.“伟大的历史性转变”isrenderedinto“Thisisagreathistoricchange”,whileinEnglish“historic”impliesthemeaningof“great”(王弄笙,2000:2);“贫富差距不断扩大”isrenderedas:“Thegapbetweentherichandthepoorcountriesiscontinuouslywidening”.Inthiscase,“iscontinuouslywidening”canbetranslatedinto“iswidening”,becausepresentcontinuoustensecontainsthemeaningof“不断”.TheyseemtobetheChineseequivalents,buttheyarenot.Theyareredundantandshouldbeeditedout.Duetodifferentlogicalthinking,itiscommonfortheChinesetousetautologyincludingfour-characteridiomstoshoweleganceoremphaseswhiletheEnglishlanguageprefersplainandsubstantialwords.“TheattempttoseektheequivalencebetweentheChineseformandtheEnglishonewillinevitablyleadtotautology,bloatedstructureandlogicalconfusion,whichcannotbeacceptedbythetargetreadersandthuscannotachieveitscommunicationeffects.”(袁晓宁,2005:76)Nidaholdsasimilarviewthat“Eachlanguagehasitsowngenius…Ratherthanforcetheformalstructureofonelanguageuponanother,theeffectivetranslatorisquitepreparedtomakeanyandallformalchangesnecessarytoreproducethemessageinthedistinctivestructuralformsofthereceptorlanguage.”(Nida,EugeneA.&Taber,CharlesR.1982:3-4)Liketheauthormentionedabove,insomecases,theoriginalChinesemeaninghasbeenimpliedintheEnglishwordsandneedsnofurtherelaboration,inordertoachieveconciseness,wehavetomakesomeadjustmentsinourChinese-English83 translation.Wecandeleteunnecessaryinformation.Deletionisahighlynecessarymeanstoapplytheskopostheorieinthetranslationofpublicitymaterialsinsteadoftranslationerrors.TheapplicationofskopostheorieinthetranslationofpublicitymaterialswillbediscussedinChapterFourindetail.3.6.3NounRepetitionsOneofthegreatestdifferencesbetweenEnglishandChineseisthatEnglishdoesn’tprefertoomanyrepetitions.Itwillresorttovariousmeanssuchaspronouns,acronyms,etctoavoidthisproblem.WeChinesedon’tmindthesamenounappearingseveraltimesinaChinesearticle.ThoughpronounsarealsoemployedinChinese,theyarenotusedasfrequentlyasinEnglish.“Therefore,weshouldavoidrepetitionsineverypossiblewayinChinese-EnglishtranslationwhilemorenounsratherthanpronounsshouldbeusedinEnglish-Chinesetranslation.”(庄绎传,1999:60).JoanPinkhamalsopointsoutthat“Themostcommonmeansofcondensingrepeatedreferencestoanideaistoreplacethespelled-outversionwithapronoun.WhilepronounsappearrelativelyseldominChinese,theiruseisdeeplyrootedinEnglish.”(Pinkham,Joan,2000:122).Soitisnotdifficulttounderstandwhyanarticleinwhichthesamenounappearsmanytimesisawkwardtoforeigners.Andweshouldusethesubstitutionofanounwithapronouninaflexiblewaytomakeourtranslationmoreidiomatic.Forexample:Sourcetext:“为了开好本次大会，邮联大会中国组委会全力以赴做了大量的准备工作。中国政府和北京市政府均对本次大会的筹备给予了大力支持。很多国家政府和邮政主管部门也为中国筹备本次大会提供了有益的帮助。在此，我谨向所有支持本次大会筹备工作的国家、部门和朋友们表示最衷心的感谢。”Targettext:“TheChineseOrganizingCommitteeofthePostalUnionCongresshasgoneallouttomakepreparationsinordertomaketheCongressa83 success.ThecentralgovernmentandtheBeijngMunicipalGovernmentofChinahaverenderedunfailingsupporttothepreparatoryworkoftheCongress.TheGovernmentandcompetentpostaldepartmentsofmanycountrieshavefurnishedkindassistancetoChina’spreparatoryworkfortheCongress.HereI’dliketoexpressmymostsincerethankstoallcountries,departmentsandfriendsthathavegivenussupporttothepreparatoryworkfortheCongress.”Wenoticethat“大会”appearsinthesourcetextfivetimes,correspondingly,“congress”isusedintargettextfivetimes.“筹备”istranslatedas“preparatorywork”inthetargettextinvariably.Thetranslatedversionseemstobeunsatisfactory.Thesuggestedversion:TheCOChasgonealloutanddonealotofpreparatoryworkforthePostalUnionCongresstomakeitasuccess.BoththeCentralGovernmentandtheBeijingMunicipalGovernmentofChinahaverenderedunfailingsupporttoitspreparations.TheGovernmentsandcompetentpostaldepartmentsofmanycountrieshaveprovidedChinawithkindhelpinthework.HereIwishtoexpressmostsincerethankstoallthecountries,departmentsandfriendsthathavegivenussupportinthisregard.Here,“Congress”and“preparations”areusedinthetranslationonlyonce,weshouldavoidrepetitionsineverypossiblewayinChinese-EnglishtranslationandmorepronounsratherthanthesamenounshouldbeusedinEnglish-Chinesetranslation.ChapterFourApplicationofSkopostheorytoTranslationofForeignPublicitySkopostheory,asadistinguishedtranslationtheory,makesitselfstandoutofvarioustranslationtheoriesbyitsinstructiontothetranslatingpractice.4.1Target-text-orientedStrategytoForeignPublicityTranslation83 ItisrepeatedlystressedbyVermeerthattheoptionoftranslationstrategiesandmethodsisdeterminedbytranslationskopos.Thespecialpurpose/functionofforeignpublicitydecidesthatthetranslationofforeignpublicitymaterialsisdifferentfromthetranslationofothertypesofwriting.AccordingtoSkopostheorie,thepossiblekindsofpurposeinthefieldoftranslationcanbedistinguishedas:(1)thegeneralpurposeaimedatbythetranslationprocess;(2)thecommunicativepurposeaimedatbythetargettextinthetargetsituation;(3)thepurposeaimedatbyaparticulartranslationstrategyorprocedure.Nevertheless,thetermskoposusuallyreferstothepurposeofthetargettext.Inthecaseoftranslationforeignpublicity,skoposshouldrefertothecommunicativepurposeoftheChinesepublicitymaterialtranslatedintoEnglish.Tomakealltheforeignerswhocareaboutwhathappened,knowwhatishappeningandwhatwillhappeninChina,thetranslatedversionshouldbetargettext-oriented.Onlyinthiswaycantheinteractionalactivityachieveitsgoalofcommunication.AswehavementionedinChapterOne,thepurposeofforeignpublicitymaterialistohelpforeignersunderstandallaspectsofChina—political,economic,culturalandsocialaswellasitsforeignpolicybetter.Accordingly,agoodtranslationofforeignpublicitymustbeeasilycomprehensibleandacceptabletothetargetaudience.Thefirsttaskofthetranslatoristomakethetranslatedforeignpublicityeasytounderstand.Translatorsshouldnotexpecttoomuchthatthetargetaudiencewouldwastetheirtimetothinkofthewords,phrasesandtextsthattheyarenotfamiliarwith.Theywouldprefertoacceptthecontentandformofexpressionsintranslationwithintherangeoftheirownknowledgeoftheworld.Thatistosay,thetranslationofforeignpublicitymaterialmustadapttotargetlanguageandcultureandmustbetarget-text-oriented.Secondly,agoodtranslationofforeignpublicityisundoubtedlysuccessfulinbuildingagoodimageofthegovernmentandthecountry,atleasttoleavegoodimpressionontargetaudience.Butintheactualtranslationpractice,thisgoal/purposeofobtainingsuchanidealtranslationisoftenhardtoachieve.Duetobarriersofvariousfactors,suchaslanguage,culture,aestheticstandardsandwaysofthinking,thetranslatedpublicitymaterialmaynotwellbe83 acceptedbyitstargetaudience.Thisrequiresatranslatortograspinformationaboutthesefactorsasfullyaspossibleandthereforeconsiderthemascomprehensivelyaspossibleintothetranslationprocess.Everytranslationtaskshouldthusbeaccompaniedbyabriefthatdefinestheconditionsunderwhichthetargettextshouldcarryoutitsparticularfunction.Tofindtheaspectsinwhichthesourceandthetargettextswilldiverge,thetranslatorhastocomparethesourcetextwiththetargettextprofiledefinedinthetranslationbrief.Thetranslationbriefcancontaininformationasfollows:the(intended)textfunction(s),thetarget-textaddressee(s),the(prospective)timeandplaceoftextreception,themediumoverwhichthetextwillbetransmittedandthemotivefortheproductionorreceptionofthetext.Forexample,Sourcetext:杭州简介“江南好，最忆是杭州。”一千多年前唐朝大诗人白居易吟道。“欲把西湖比西子，淡妆浓抹总相宜。”宋朝大文豪苏东坡唱道。杭州是“世界上最美丽华贵之城！”十三世纪意大利旅行家马可·波罗叹道。“美哉杭州！”尼克松、蓬皮杜、撒切尔夫人、李光耀等，几乎所有到过杭州的外国首脑和平民游客异口同声地赞道。而中国的一代伟人毛泽东，则把杭州作为他的“第二故乡”，常来常往。杭州，西湖，魅力无穷，赞词连篇。但一切美的言语都替代不了您的真实感受，您还得亲临杭州，才能真正领略她的美。也许当您游历杭州之后，还会惊奇的发现，杭州之美不仅在于西湖，还在于她惊心动魄的钱江潮头，古老繁忙的大运河上，清新旷秀的富春江、新安江、千岛湖里；更在于他的丝绸、瓷器、书画及佛教等传统文化之中。杭州享有了她应有的桂冠：中国重点风景旅游城市、历史文化名城、七大古都之一、浙江省省会、沿海开放城市……。还得告诉您，她的工农业总产值一直名列全国大中城市前十位以内。她的地理位置也十分优越：在世界著名大都市上海南端180公里处。全市面积16596平方公里，人口611.64万，其中市区面积683平方公里，人口171.89万。83 杭州，每年拥有2000万海内外游客，但她依然热忱地欢迎您的光临！Targettext:IntroductiontoHangzhouManygreatpoetsofpastdynastiespraisedHangzhouforitsbeautyandcharm.ThefamousMarcoPolodescribesHangzhouas“thefinestandmostsplendidcityintheworld”inthe13thcentury.Thisscenicandhistoriccityboastedtheworld’sbiggestcapitalwiththebiggestpopulationintheSouthernSongDynasty(960-1279),andcontinuestoprosperasamodernandtouristone.Traditionally,WestLakeisthelureofHangzhou,andsilkandteaaresynonymouswiththistime-honoredcity.Actually,thecityhasalotmoretooffer:LingyinTemple,SixHarmoniesPagoda,QiantangRiverTides,theancientbutstillbusyGrandCanal,scissors,fans,traditionalChinesemedicine,ceramics,andespeciallyhospitablepeople.Everyyear20milliondomesticandoverseastouristsvisitHangzhouandbeyond.Mayyouhaveapleasantandenjoyablestayhere.AsfortheabovecaseoftouristbrochureofHangzhou,itcanbeformalizedasfollows:1)Theintendedtextfunction:referential(informationaboutHangzhou),appellative(attractingtouristsandbuildingupafinereputationofHangzhou)2)Thetarget-textaddressee:guestsintheHangzhouContinentalHotelandvisitorstoHangzhou.3)Timeandplaceofreception:mainlyHangzhou,possiblyitsneighboringareas,forthefollowingrecentyears.4)Medium：bilingualbrochurewithmaps，coloredphotographsandshorttextsinagivenlayout.5)Reasonsormotivesfortextproductionandreception：attractingtouristsandbuildingupandpromotingtheimagineofHangzhou.AstheabovelastthreeitemsarealmostthesameforboththeSTandtheTT,heretheauthorwillfocusonthefirsttwoitems.ComparisonbetweentheSTandTTcanletusknowintheTT,information83 aboutHangzhouwillhavepriorityovertheappellative-promotivefunction.Sothatappellativeelementsarereducedinfavorofinformativeones.Forinstance,thefamouspoetsandthefour-characterphrasesareadaptedordeletedintheEnglishversions.ComparisonbetweentheSTandtheTTaddresseeleadstotheconclusion:thedifferenceinculturalknowledgemayrequireanadjustmentoftherelationshipbetweenexplicitandimplicitinformationintheTT.“Afamoushistoricalandculturalcity”shouldbeexplicit,whilethenamesofpeoplewhohavepraisedHangzhoushouldbeimplicit.Astheauthormentionedabove,theabovelastthreeitemsof“translationbrief”arealmostthesameforboththeSTandtheTT.Inthispaper,theauthorwillfocusonthefirsttwoitems,i.e.thetarget-textaddresseeandtheintendedtextfunctionandoptforappropriatewayssuchasaddition,adaptation,explanationandotherstrategies.Let’sdiscussthemonebyone.4.1.1Target-textAddresseeAsforeigners(mainlyEnglishspeakers),whocomefromdifferentculturalbackgroundholdsdifferentthinkingmode,religiousbeliefandideology,values,customs,aestheticpsychology,wemustbearthedifferenceinmindbeforewestarttranslationofanyforeignpublicitymaterialsandtheinformationthatwhowouldreadthetargettext,whattheyexpecttoreadandwhattheyreallywantisveryimportant.Otherwise,thewholetranslatingprocessprobablyleadstoafailure.Sincethetarget-textaddressees,foreigntoChina,arekeentoknowbetteraboutChina,sowhiletranslating,weshouldtakealltheaboveintoaccountandtryourbesttofillthehugegapbetweenChineseandforeigners.4.1.1.1AddingSomeChineseABCsTranslators’offeringsomebackgroundinformationwillmakeiteasierandclearerforforeignerstounderstandwhattheycareabout.“Oneofthemosteffectiveways(tofillintheChineseABCs)istocombinetranslationand83 explanation.”(张健,2001:26).Thisisacommonlyusedmethodinbackgroundexplanation,suchas“铁饭碗”—“ironricebowl:lifelongemployment(system)”.(张健,2001:469-470).“Foreignreadersdifferfromdomesticones.TheyknowlittleorevennothingabouttheChinesehistory,culture,economicsituation,people’slives,customsandpresentconditions.Consequently,itisquitenecessarytoprovideappropriatebackgroundknowledgeaccordingtospecificcontents.Itwillbehelpfulforforeignerstounderstandthemeaningofthenews.”(张健,2001:122).Translators’offeringsomebackgroundinformationwillmakeiteasierandclearerforforeignerstounderstandwhattheycareabout.ThepurposeofsupplyingsomebackgroundinformationistohelpforeignersbetterandfurtherknowChina.Whenwetranslateforeignpublicity,weneedtoaddsomebriefexplanatorynotes,especiallyforsomehistoricalorgeographicalterms.Forexample:“城隍庙”isacommonestablishmentinmanyChinesecitiesandevenachildknowsthatitreflectsatouchofChinesereligionoracolorofsuperstitionintheolddays.However,foramajorityofforeignvisitors,withoutaproperknowledgeofChineseculture,theycouldn’tpossiblylearntheembeddedbackgroundinformationifwetranslateitas“YuyuanGardenandYuyuanBazaar”.And“城隍庙”isoneoftheimportantelementsthatappealtoculturalhunters.Therefore,inordertoretaintheculturalflavorintheEnglishlanguagesetting,itisnecessaryforustoprovideanadequateexplanationfortheterm.Therevisedtranslationisasfollows：“YuyuanGardenandYuyuanBazaar”(YuyuangardenisafamousplaceinShanghaiforitsChenghuangTemple,apopularChinesetraditionalshrineforcityGod.Chinesepeopleusedtobelievethattheshrineandgodcouldprotectthewholecityandcitydwellersfromnaturaldisasters.).WhentranslatingaChinesenameofplace,historicalterms,biographicalnotes,weshouldidentifyspecificinformation.Alltheabovecanbeexemplifiedasfollows:4.1.1.1.1GeographicalTerms83 ExceptthenamesofChinesemetropoliseslikeBeijingandShanghai,mostChineseplacenamesarenewtoforeigners.Youcanfindsuchexpressionsas“Shandong,eastofChina”,“Shanxi,northofChina”aboundinginnowadayspublicationsandnewspapers.Morespecifically,wemaysayZhoushan,oneofChina’sbiggestfishinggroundsinitssoutheastZhejiangProvince.Withouttheproperexplanation,foreignerscannotfigureoutwheretheplaceis,aswedon’tknowwhereOregonliesintheU.S.Evenforlargecities,sometimesitissafertogivethemsomebackgroundexplanation,becausethoughBeijingandShanghaiarequitefamiliartopeoplefromdevelopedcountries,theyarestillforeigntothoseinthethirdworld.Theycanbeexplainedthisway:Beijing—China’scapitalcity;Shanghai—China’slargestcityintheeast.Sometimeswecanresorttomapstohelpforeignreaders’bettercomprehension.Likewementionedabove,whenwetranslatesomeinformationaboutgeographicalterms,weshouldprovidesomebackgroundexplanationlikewhatitwasaboutinadditiontoitsliteraltranslation.Forexample,Sourcetext:绍兴是越瓷的产地。Targettext1:ShaoxingisthehomeofYuePorcelain.Targettext2:ShaoxingistheproducingareaofYuePorcelain.YueisthestatenameusedtorefertotheShaoxingregioninancientChina.Thesecondtranslatedversionexplainswhere“Yue”isintoday’sChinabyaddinganothersentence.“Yue”isanancientname,soforeignersmaynotknowit(柯细香,2002:90).Byexpoundingit,theylearnmoreinformationaboutShaoxinganditsspecialty.Butcomparedwiththefirsttranslation,itislengthyandmaybeadistractiontotouristswhoarenotkeentoknowit.Itturnsoutthatsometranslatorsmaythink“Yue”maybeaproblemaswell.However,otherswhothoughtotherwisesaid“thenameoftheproductisimportant.Butthestateof“Yue”isapieceofextrainformation.Knowingthenameoftheproductisenough”.Althoughtheannotationinsecondtranslationishelpful,itmaybebettertomeltthetwotranslationsintoonesentencebysaying“Shaoxing,knowninancienttimesasYue,isthehomeofYue83 porcelain”(唐莹,2006:21).Therefore,Englishreaderscanaccessfullandnaturalinformationwhichmaysatisfytheirextendedinterestsintheproduct.4.1.1.1.2BiographicalNotesWhentranslatingasourcetextwithbiographicalinformation,averybriefexplanationtoaChinesepersonisneversuperfluousapartfromveryfamouspeoplelikeConfucius,Mencius,andMaoZedongandtoday’sChinesetopleaderswhoarecertainlynostrangersontheinternationalarena.NotallormostforeignerscanreadilyfollowChinesefigures,soabriefexplanationwouldbequitenecessary.Forexample:whentranslatingSunZi,YangYuhuanandLiBai,weshouldinsertexplanationasfollows:militarysageSunWu(orSunZi,authoroftheArtofWar);YangYuhuan,oneofthefourfamousancientbeautiesandfavoriteconcubineofTangEmperorXuanzong(847-859);LiBai(701-762),thegreatancientpoetofChina.4.1.1.1.3HistoricalTermsAsChinahasalonghistory,foreigneralwaysbafflesatthedynastiesmentionedinforeignpublicity.Thereforethedynasty’sstartingandcollapsingyearsmustbepointedoutwhenwetranslatedynasties.SometimeswemayaddsomethingmoreliketheTangDynasty(618-907),China’smostprosperousdynasty.ForeignersareoftenconfusedbyChina’stwofeudaldynasties—theQinDynastyandtheQingDynastybecauseoftheirsimilarpronunciationsandspelling.Inadditiontoaddingtheirstartingandcollapsingyears,wemayaswelltellforeignreadersthisway:theQinDynasty(221-201BC,China’sfirstfeudaldynasty);theQingDynasty(1644-1911,China’slastfeudaldynasty).Sometimes,wecansayXdynastywasbuiltintheXcenturyinordertogiveforeignersaclearideabecausethedynastyspanstoolongaperiod.Sometimes,whenwetranslatehistoricalterms,weneedtoparaphraseitsmeaninginsteadofaddingextraexplanation,forexample,“桃园结义，千古流传”isrenderedinto“ThestoryoftheswornbrotherhoodofLiuBei,GuanYuandZhangFei83 inthePeachGardenascomesdownthroughtheages”.ThetranslationaimstoparaphrasetheChineselegend“桃园结义”andthefour-characterphrase“千古流传”withinthecontextinsteadofaddingmoresentencestoexplain.Asforhistoricalandliteraryallusions,anexplanationinforeignpublicitywillneverberedundant.Forexample:“foolisholdmanwhoremovedthemountains”(yugongyishan)soasnottobewilderyourforeignaudiencewith“foolish”.Similarly,asforChina’shistoricaleventsandlegend,unlessitisofinternationalinfluenceliketheOpiumWar,otherwiseweshouldprovidesomebackgroundexplanationlikewhenandwhereithappenedandwhatitwasaboutinadditiontoitsliteraltranslation.Forinstance,“林边有一个洞，叫白龙洞，传说《白蛇传》的白娘子曾经在这里修炼。”istranslatedas“NeartheforestistheWhiteDragonCavewhichissaidtobetheveryplacewhereLadyWhite,thelegendaryheroineoftheStoryoftheWhiteSnakewhoselovestorywithamortalhasbeenspreadingeversinceancienttime,cultivatedherselfaccordingtoBuddhistdoctrine.”ByaddingsomebackgroundexplanationtoLadyWhite,wemanagetogiveforeignreadersanideahowtheWhiteDragonCavecameintobeing.Withoutit,westernreaderswillbeataloss.4.1.1.1.4Culture-loadedTermsBaoHuinanandBaoAngdefineculture-loadedwordsinthisway:“culture-loadedwordsarealsoknownaswordvacancy,thatis,theculturalinformationcarriedbythesourcelanguagecannotfinditsequivalentinthetargetlanguage”(包惠南、包昂,2004:10).Chinaisalargemulti-ethniccountrywithatotaloffifty-sixnationalities.Eachofthem,especiallythoseethnicgroups,hasitsowndistinctiveculture.Sometimes,weHanpeoplecannotfullyunderstandtheirethniccultures,letaloneforeigners.Thenhowtotranslatethewordsemployedtodescribethingsorphenomenauniquetoeachcultureseemsdifficult.Inthiscase,wealwaysresorttointerpretativetranslationtoexplainpeculiar83 Chineseterms.Forexample:bangyan—asecond-placecandidateinthehighestimperialexaminations,hada(AwelcomingpartyofyoungTibetanwomenscurriedabouttryingtoplacetraditionalwhitescarvesaroundournecks),huoguo(hotpot),hutong,(oneoftheoldalleyways,narrowerthantheshoulderofaturnpike,thatoncemadeupthelabyrinthineheartofthecentralcity).fengshui(afactororambiencewhenwechooseaplace),gaokao(nationaluniversityentranceexam)etc.4.1.1.1.5PoliticalJargonsEverywordhastwotypesofmeaningfromthesemanticperspective,namelydenotativemeaningandconnotativemeaning.“Thefirstreferstomeaningwhichisreferential,objectiveandcognitiveand,hence,thesharedpropertyofthespeechcommunitywhichusesthelanguageofwhichthewordorsentenceformsapart.Thesecond,incontrast,referstomeaningwhichisnotreferentialbutassociational,subjectiveandaffective.Thiskindofmeaning,beingpersonal,mayormaynotbesharedbythecommunityatlarge”(RogerT.bell1991/2001:98-99,see李斌,2003:44).Therefore,denotativemeaningisrelativelysimpletodescribewhilethedescriptionofconnotativemeaningismorecomplicated.Itisdifficultforustodecidetheconnotationofawordandfinditsequivalentinthetargetlanguage.Althoughmostpoliticaltermsarevividandexpressive,theycausegreattroubleinrenderingthemintoEnglish.FormostofthemareproductionsoftypicalChinesesociallife,itisverydifficulttofindtheircounterpartsinEnglish.Interpretativetranslationalsoappliestomanypoliticaljargons.WecannotsimplyrenderthemintoEnglishwithoutpresentingtheirconcretecontents.Wehaveto“getridoftheformoftheoriginalabbreviationandadoptflexiblemeansoftranslation”(张健,2001:30)Thatistosay,weneedtosupplementwhatareabbreviatedwhentheyappearforthefirsttimeinatext.Todoso,atranslatormustfirstunderstandthemeaningofsuchtermsthoroughlybeforeheisabletotranslateandexplainthemclearly.Forexample,“假冒伪劣”(fakeandlow-qualitygoods),“打黄扫非”（wipeoutpornographicpublicationsandcrackdownonillegalpublishingpractices）aretypical83 examples.Besides,foreignpublicityrepresentstheimageofagovernment,politicalterms,oneformofforeignpublicitymaterials,aresensitiveineverycountryandeveryculture.,thereforeweshouldaddsomeexplanationwhiletranslating.Forinstance:“实行三包”canbetranslatedas“3Rsguaranteed—repair,replacementandrefund”;“中国特色的社会主义”canberenderedinto:“socialismwithChinesecharacteristics”.ItistheofficialtermforthemixedeconomyofthePRCChinaasittransitionsfromaneconomybasedonpublicownershipofmeansofproductiontoaneconomythatallowsforthesimultaneousoperationofpubliclyandprivatelyownedenterprises.Similarly,“吃大锅饭”isrenderedinto“breaktheabsoluteequalitarianism(wherebyeveryonegetstheusualpayandbenefitsirrespectiveofhisperformance):getaneveragepayregardlessofcontributionmade;betreatedthesamedespitethedifferencesinworkingattitudeandcontribution.”.“EvenoverseasChineseandcompatriotsinHongkong,MacaoandTaiwanmayfindithardorimpossibletounderstandpoliticalterms,letaloneforeigners(exceptafewChinahands).”(沈苏儒,2004:131).SomearesonewthatevenweChinesedon’tknowthem.Forsuchterms,literaltranslationisoflittleavailtoforeignersasinthefollowingexample:“和平演变”—“peacefulevolution”.“OwingtothehugedifferencesbetweenChinaandtheWestinpoliticalsystems,cultures,historiesandlanguagehabits,wecanaddsomebackgroundexplanationtosuchtermslike“和平演变”,whichareunfamiliartoforeignreaderssothattheycouldunderstandthemessageinourforeignpublicity.”(张健,2001:186).Thesuggestedversionisthefollowing:“Peacefulevolutiontowardscapitalism;peacefulevolutionfromsocialismbackintocapitalism(bymeansofeconomy,culture,ideologyandothernonviolenttactics);peacefulevolution(theattempttounderminesocialistsystembynonviolentmeans)”(张健,2001:114-307).“Althoughsuchexplanationsmayseemwordyandnotveryaccuratetous,theyareindeednecessaryforthewesternaudience.Inthefinalanalysis,theveryreasonwhyweexertsuchgreateffortstoprovidebackgroundexplanationistomakeourforeignpublicitymoreintelligibleandtohelpthereceptoraudiencebetter83 understandthemsoastoachievegoodcommunicationeffects.”(张健,2004:178)LiteraltranslationplusexplanationnotonlyhelpsforeignersknowmoreaboutpeculiarChinesetermsbutalsohaspromotedtheseterms’internationalization.MoreandmoreChinesewordsarebeingabsorbedintoEnglishduringthisprocess,whichisquiteconducivetoourpublicitytranslation.4.1.1.2FillingtheGapbetweentheLanguagesChineseandEnglish-speakingpeopleseemtolookdifferentlyregardingtheuseoflanguage.ClicheortriteexpressionsarediscouragedinEnglishwriting,whileChinesewritinggivesitsapprovaltofour-characterexpression,antitheses,parallelism,applyingvariousrhetoricaldevicesintoitssyntax,suchas“胜利召开，切实加强，毫无根据的诽谤”.WhentranslatedintoEnglish,however,theymaystrikeforeignreadersasunnecessary,strange,orevenillogical.Thatistosayduetothetwonationalities’differencesofmentalcognitiveability,aestheticinterest,andpsychologistexperience,iftranslatorsrenderallofthemonebyoneignoringthehugedifferencebetweenthesetwolanguagesandpeople’sdifferentcognitiveability,theso-calledtarget-textwouldmakenosenseintheprospectivereceptionenvironment.Therefore,thelanguageofthetranslation,theresponseofthereaderandthetargetcultureplayanimportantroleintranslation.Foreignpublicity,asacommunicationchannelbetweentheenterpriseandthereader,emphasizesonitslanguagestyleinitstargetcultureandthetranslationshouldbereader-centered.Let’sexaminethefollowingexample:sourcetext:中国广西,一大片古老深远,壮美的国土。十万大山峰峦叠嶂,古木参天,流水潺潺。十万大山,一个响亮的名字;十万大山系列食品是广西山水哺育出来的品牌;“十万大山”是广西农垦人的共同名字。TargetText1:InGuangxi,China,thereisalarge,magnificent,profound,ancientland.InsidetherangeofGreatMountain(Shiwandashan),peaksoverlappeaks,oldtreesreachintothesky,andcreeksmurmur.Great83 mountain,aresoundingname,isabrandnamenurturedbythemountainsandriversofGuangxi;GreatMountainhasbecomethecommonnameofGuangxiStateFarmsGroup.Theveryfirstglimpseofthetranslationmakesthereaderfeelacompletetranslationofthesourcetext.However,theEnglishlanguageintranslationwithrichChinesecharacteristicsisredundantforEnglishreaders.Stillworse,thetranslationdoesn’tcaterforthetargetreader’sreadinghabitandaestheticstandards.AllthewordsandexpressionsareEnglishextrinsically,butinfacttheyareChineseorwhatwecall“Chinglish”.Inthismaterial,suchpoeticflowerylanguagesuchas“十万大山峰峦叠嶂,古木参天,流水潺潺”isonlyforthepurposeofprovokingtheemotionorconformingtotheChinesewritingstyle,nothelpfulfortheintroductionoftheproductandthepublicityfortheenterprise.“十万大山”,thenameforalltheGuangxiStateFarmsGroup,alsoonlyrepresentstheabstractsloganinsteadofanysubstantialcontent.Here,“十万大山系列食品是广西农垦集团有限责任公司的品牌”isthemainfocus.Therefore,weretranslatethematerialasfollows:TargetText2:Greatmountain,abranddealingwithfarmingproducesofShiwandashaninGuangxi,China,isafamousbrandofGuangxiStateFarmsGroupCo.,Ltd.Aparenthesis“abranddealingwith…”isusedheretohighlighttherelationshipbetweenthebrand“十万大山”andfarmingproductsofShiwandashaninGuangxi,meanwhile,thephrase“famousbrand”confersthemeaningof“十万大山,一个响亮的名字”,acommonnameofGuangxifarmer.Translation2impressesuswithitssimpleandsmoothexpressionwhichmeetsthestyleoftheproductintroductionandcorporationpublicity.Aword-for-wordtranslationleadstonothingbutconfusionforanyforeignerwhowantstovisitascenicspotinChina.Ifawriterwantstostrengthenthemeaning,enlargetheinformation,heorshewouldnotpileupwordsorexpressions;instead,theyalterthesyntaxstructure,andusecontextstomakethemeaningcompleteandspecific.Takingthedifferencesintoaccount,thetranslatorsshouldadoptanappropriatestrategywhiletranslatingthepublicitymaterials.Translationdifficultieslienotonlyatthelexicallevel,butalsoatthetextuallevel.83 “Discourseisthehighestlevelatwhichwemayfindculturaldeposit,whichusuallytaketheformofthediscoursepatternandthestylisticfeaturesofaspecifictexttype”(李运兴,2000).Languagedifferencesexistnotonlyatthelexicallevelbutalsoatthetextuallevel.Therefore,weshouldmakesomeadaptationtomakethetargettexteasierforforeignerstounderstand.Letuscometothefollowingexample:Sourcetext:天津师范大学是一所综合性的重点高等师范院校，诞生于1958年，随着共和国的成长，她也历经磨砺，走过了三十多年的风风雨雨。三十多年来，一批批德才兼备的教学、科研和管理人员会集在这里，怀着振兴天津，振兴教育的希冀，在这块土地上默默地耕耘。春华秋实，硕果累累，两万多名教育教学人才走出学校大门，足迹遍及全国，桃李满天下。他们献身教育，殚思竭虑，为撑起教育的脊梁，托起明天的太阳。Targettext:Foundedin1958,theuniversityhasentereditsfourthdecadewitharemarkablerecordofbothhardshipandachievements.Itisnowrankedasoneofthekeyinstitutionsofteachertraininginchina.Alongwiththegrowthoftherepublic,shehasstormed30difficultyearsofwindandrain.Inthepastthirtyyears,hundredsoftalentedteachers,researchersandadministratorshavegatheredworkedhereinthehopeofrejuvenatingTianjinandeducationandtheysilentlyplowedonthispieceoflandinacontinuousendeavortomeettheever-increasingdemandsforeducatorsbothinTianjinandtherestofthecountry.Flowersbloomgloriouslyinspringandfruitshangheavyinautumn.Morethan20thousandstudentshavegraduatedfromtheuniversityandarenowteachingnationwide.Theirfootprintsarealloverthecountryandtheybearfruitslikepeachesandplumsallovertheworld.TheyhavededicatedtheirwisdomandenergytotheeducationalneedsofthecountrytopropupthebackboneofeducationandtherisingsunoftomorrowinthefirmconvictionthatthefutureofChinaliesintheeducationoftheyoungergeneration.Theaboveexampleisanintroductiontoacollege.TheChinesestyleistoo83 floweryandpompousforthegenreinEnglish.Therefore,whiletranslating,thetranslatorshouldadaptthetexttoEnglishconventionsandchangetheflowerylanguagetodown-to-earthexposition.Thustheunderlinedpartsaresuggestedtobeignoredorgivenaparaphrasing.Inthisway,thetargetaudiencesareboundtobeprovidedamuchclearerintroductiontothecollege.4.1.1.3BridgingtheGapbetweenDifferentCulturesThecourseofpublicitymaterialstranslationinevitablyinvolvestwolanguagesandtwocultures.Thedifferencesbetweenlanguagesandculturesinvolvedifferentthoughtpatterns,aestheticvalues,etc,onadeeplevelthatareculture-specific.Therefore,translatorsshouldoffersomeexplanationstohelpforeignersbetterunderstandthemeaningofsourcetext.Foreignpublicitynotonlyperformsthetaskofinformationtransmission,butalsoplaystheroleofacross-culturalmessenger.Nowadays,“Translationisnolongermerelyregardedasthetransmissionoflanguagesymbols.Itisalsoregardedasamodeofculturaltransmission”(郭建中:1998,12).Wemustfostertheideathat“foreignersarenotChinese”andtakeintoconsiderationtheimpactculturaldifferencesmayexertoneffectivetransmission.Inaword,“Wecannotachievethewantedeffectsinourforeignpublicityifwedon’tpayenoughattentiontotheculturaldifferences.”(中译英技巧文集,1992)Take“三从四德”forexample,itobviouslyconveyslittleinformationtothereceptoraudienceiftheexpressionisrenderedintoEnglishas“women’sthreeobedienceandfourvirtues”,whichseemsfaithfulatfirstsight.Firsttheomittedmessageshavetobebroughtoutsuchaswhatthethreeobedienceandfourvirtuesare.Inthisway,wemaytranslateitas“women’sthreeobedience(tofatherbeforemarriage,tohusbandaftermarriageandtosonafterthedeathofhusband)andfourvirtues(morality,properspeech,modestmanner,and83 diligentwork)”.Thisversionismuchbetterbutisstillabitfromsatisfaction,becausethesocialandculturalbackgroundismissing.ForeignersmaywonderwhyChinesewomenhavetoobeysuchthingsaftermorethan20years’reformandopening-up.Thusitisessentialtoaddtheculturalcontexttotheimprovedtranslationabove－“women’sthreeobedience(tofatherbeforemarriage,tohusbandaftermarriageandtosonafterthedeathofhusband)andfourvirtues(morality,properspeech,modestmanner,anddiligentwork),spiritualfettersimposedonwomeninfeudalsociety”(吴景荣、程镇球,2000:1319).Ifthetranslatordoesnotknowtheculturalbackgroundbehind“三从四德”,histranslationislikelytoraisequestionsamongforeignreaders.Sometimes,wewillfindthatthere’resomewordslackingofequivalentsinEnglish,examplesofthiskindcanbefoundinChinesefoodnames,religiousterms,namesofculturalrelics,newtermswithChinesecharacteristics,etc.AstheyhavenoequivalentsinEnglish,weneedtoaddsomebackgroundexplanationtomakethemcomprehensibletoforeigners.Forinstance,zongzi—ricedumplingwrappedinreedleaf.Wecannotensurethat100%oftheoriginalinformationisconveyedbutatleastmostofitistransmittedwithsuchanexplanation.Sometimes,wecanfindthesamewordhasdifferentmeaningsorconnotationsintwocultures.Forexample,howtotranslate“黄色书刊”and“黄色碟片”?Howtohandlethehugegapbetweenthesetwodifferentculturesisupforconsiderationforanytranslator.Here,“黄色”means“pornographic”insteadof“yellow”.Theword“yellow”canrefertocolorinEnglish-speakingcountriesandinChina.BesidesitcanbeusedtodescribesomeonewhoisinadepressingorgloomystateinEnglish;however,inChineseitdoesnothavethismeaning.TheChineseword“黄色”issomewhatequivalenttotheEnglishword“blue”inthissense.Anothertypicalexampleistheword“dragon”.InChineseweoftensay“龙的传人”and“龙头企业”.Inthewest,thedragonisconsideredasafrighteninganddevilishmonsterwhileithaslongbeenregardedasalegendarilyauspiciousanimalinChina.Chineseemperorsoftencomparedthemselvestothedragon.Phoenix,thoughnotsomethingbadinthewesternculturelikedragon,has83 differentemphasisinChineseculture－rebirthinthewestandbeingpropitiousinChina.Onehasneverheardthataphoenixisrebornafteritsself-burninginChineseculture.Moreoftenthannot,theChinesetalkof“thedragon-and-phoenixmatch”（龙凤配）and“prosperitybroughtbythedragonandthephoenix”（龙凤呈祥）.Inthiscircumstance,wecannottranslatetheChinesewordsaboveliterallyinordertoavoidculturalmisunderstanding.Instead,wecantranslate“龙头”as“leader”or“flagship”.Sometimes,inthetargettext,thetranslatorneedstoaddsomeexpositorynotestothetranslationinordertohandlethehugegapbetweentwodifferentcultures.Sourcetext:面积达两万五千平方米的人造石林，精心选择了云南石林的“梁祝相会”、“龙腾虎跃”、“阿诗玛”等著名景观，……Targettext:Thestoneforestcovers25000squaremeters.Initarerecreatedsomebest-knownformalitiesatthestoneforestinYunnanProvince.OneiscalledLiangShanboMeetsZhuYingtai(afterthe“butterflylovers”inafamousoldChinesestory).AnotherisSoaringDragonandLeapingTiger.StillanotherisAShima,aftertheheroineinanotherancientlovestorywhowassaidtohavebeenturnedintostoneinthestoneforest...Intheaboveexample,iftherewerenoadditions,foreignreaderswouldfeelconfusedwiththenamesof“梁祝”and“阿诗玛”,becausetheyneitherknowwhotheyarenorunderstandwhatismeantbyreferringto.Theywillhavedifficultyinunderstanding.Let’sseeanotherexample:SourceText：湖州是吴越古都，东望南郡，高士云集，文人荟集:王羲之、谢安、颜真卿、杜牧、苏轼、王十朋等先后任郡守，名流俊彦如王维、白居易、陆羽、俞曲园、吴昌硕等，或本籍人士，或寄于此。（湖州风光）TargetText1:Fromahistoricalpointofview,HuzhouisanancientstateofWuandYue,wherefamousscholarslikeWangXizi,XieAn,YanZhengqing,DuMu,SuShiandWangShipengconvergedandwererespectively83 appointedaschiefoftheprefecture.Otherdistinguishedpersonalitieswerebornandrearedhere,suchasWangWei,BaiJuyi,LuYu,YuQuyuanandWuChangshu.ThetranslationsoundsboringinEnglishbecauseit’satypicalword-for-wordversion.Foreignerswillneitherpayattentiontothescenicspot－Huzhou(themaininformationhere)norgetinterestedinthepeople’sname.Asforeignersdon'tknowthoseChinesenames,howtobridgetheculturalgapseemsimportant.Thesecondversionwheresomedeletionsaremadeseemsmuchbetter:TargetText2:Inhistory,Huzhoubelongedto“South-EastState”andhasahistoryofover2300years.Huzhou’shistorybackgroundrelatedtoenormousscholarsandwell-knownfiguresfarbacktotheolddaysanduptonowsuchasWangXizhi,SuShi,BaiJuyiandWuChangshu.Thestrategiesthatthetranslatoradoptsintargettext2aretargetaudience-oriented,offeringamorepragmatictranslation,whichiseasilyacceptableforforeignerstoknowaboutChineseculture.Itisachallengingtasktomakeforeignersknow,appreciateandevenfallinlovewithChineseculturebymeansoftranslationinSino-foreignerscommunication.Inthepracticeoftranslation,theculturallosscanbeeasilyfoundanditcanbehardlyavoidable.Thetranslatorshavetoculltheeffectiveinformationfromthesourcetextandmakesomemodificationswhileeditingandwritingduetothehugedifferencebetweentwocultures.Atranslatorshouldalwaysbearitinhisorhermindthateffectivecommunicationistheprimarygoaltoachieve.Culturallossshouldbeneitherapriceforcommunicationnorabarrier.Whatatranslatorshoulddoistotrytominimizetheculturallosswiththesmoothcommunicationasanultimategoal.4.1.2TheIntendedTextFunctionAccordingtoSkopostheory,thetranslationofforeignpublicityshouldtaketheintendedfunctionoftargetlanguageintoaccount,suchassellingproducts,persuadingcustoms,encouraginginvestmentetc.Theintendedtextfunctionrefers83 toaprospectivefunctionofatextthatistranslatedfromasourcetext.Inotherwords,itmeanssomekindsoffunctionswillbeperformedintargettextenvironment.Skopostheoryholdsthattheendjustifiesthestrategies.Sotranslatorsshouldfollowtheprimaryprincipleinskopostheory,namelyskoposrule.Differentsourcetextswouldproducedifferentfunctions;whilewhentranslatedintotargettextsinanotherlanguage,theoriginalintentionshouldbefulfilled,otherwisetheactionoftranslationwouldfailtoachieveitsgoal.Liketheauthormentionedabove,themainfunctionofforeignpublicitymaterialistoinformtheforeignerswhowanttoknowmoreaboutChinaofanythingrelatedincludingtheeconomy,politics,cultureandthevariousaspectsaboutChinesepeople’slife.It’simportantforustofollowthemeaningofthesourcetextandtheauthor’sidea,ratherthanmodifyitsoriginalmeaningbyimposinghisownopinionsduringthetranslatingprocessespeciallywhenwetranslatesomepoliticalmaterials.Otherwise,politicalimpactandcountry’simagewillbeweakened.Whenwetranslatesuchmaterial,weshouldgraspthemeaningofthesourcetextclosely,sometimes,thetranslatorsshouldfollowthelexicalorderandstructureofsourcetextratherthanadjustoreveninverseitortheymaymakepoliticalmistakes.Forexample:“我明确提出要继续扩大企业自主权，把应当放给企业的生产经营和业务管理权，全部放给企业，该放到那一级就放到那一级，任何部门不许截留”.ItisasentencewithtypicalChinesecharacteristics,whiletranslating,thetranslatorhasmaintainedtheoriginalorder,andrendersitinto“itisexplicitlyprovidedthatcontinuedeffortwillbemadetoexpandthedecision-makingpowersoftheenterprisestovestinthemallpowersforproductionmanagementandbusinessadministrationthatshouldbegiventotheenterprisesandtodelegatethesepowerstowhateverlevelnecessaryandnotallowanydepartmenttowithholdthem.”However,whenthesourcetextisfullofthedescriptionsonlytoheightentheatmosphere,weshouldbearinmindthatthemeaningofthesourcetextandtheintendedtextfunctionaremostimportant,wecanbrieftheatmospheredescriptionintooneortwosentencesinthetargettext.Let’sexaminethefollowingexample:83 Sourcetext:女士们、先生们、大主教：当圣玛利亚的钟声在低沉回响的时候，当我们手中的蜡烛在悠悠燃烧的时候，美丽的旧金山已经经历了一天的喧嚣，笼罩上了浓浓的夜幕，无边的灯海穿透了城市向四周蔓延，与远处太平洋波涛拍岸的搏击声融为一体，旷古的自然与旧金山都市的文明交相辉映，使人们油然生成的联想飘向久远。此时此刻，我，一个来自大洋彼岸、64前曾经遭受过侵华日军残暴蹂躏的古城南京的普通市民，在这里，与各位女士、先生一起，共同感受着圣玛利亚教堂肃静、凝重、庄严的氛围，在深邃、幽静的大殿下。让虔诚的心与历史一同呼吸，共同去追忆64前发生在中国南京的那场血腥暴行，向被无辜杀戮的30多万遇难者寄予深深的悼念。(江苏省委宣传部原稿)(袁晓宁,2005)TargetText:TheMostReverentArchbishop,LadiesandGentleman,InthisbeautifulcityofSanFrancisco,amidthecandlelight,weprayforpeaceandforthevictimsoftheoutrageousatrocitiesandterrorism.IamanordinarycitizenoftheChinesehistorycityofNanjingsituatedacrosstheocean,－acitywhichtheJapaneseinvadingtroopsrapedanddevastated64yearsago.IhavecomeheretosharewithyouinthissolemnsilenceofSt.MaryCathedralthememoriesofthebloodyatrocitiescommitted64yearsagoduringtheNanjingMassacre,extendingourdeepcondolencestotheover300thousandvictims.(袁晓宁译)ThisparagraphisaprologueofprayceremonyspeechinSt.MaryCathedralinSanFranciscobyMrZhuChengshan,thepresidentofNanjingMassacreMemorialHall.Totranslatesuchaleader’sspeechistomaketheforeignersknowtheChineseleaders’standpointsandmakethesolemnatmospherereachtheclimax.ZhuChengshan,leaderofthememorialhall,deliversthespeechformallybothincontentandinstyle.Whiletranslating,thetranslatorsshouldrenderboththemeaningandstyleofthesourcetext.Sometimes,theyhavetosacrificetheTongShun(smoothness)toachievethefidelityfortheskoposofthetranslatedversion.Zhuis83 goodatconveyingtheimportantmeaninginaformalstyle.AstheaboveexcerptshowsthatZhuhasusedalotofsolemnandformalwordsandexpressions,sothetranslatorshouldtryhisorherbesttomaintaintheoriginalatmosphere.TheremayappearsomeexpressionsnotveryauthenticEnglishstyle,butthestrategyshouldbeadoptedhere.Let’sexplorethespecifictranslationstrategiesbyexaminingsomesentences.First,inordertoproducethesamesolemnatmosphere,thetranslatormadesomeadjustmentanddeletionofthetranslatedversion.“当圣玛利亚的钟声在低沉回响的时候，当我们手中的蜡烛在悠悠燃烧的时候，美丽的旧金山已经经历了一天的喧嚣，笼罩上了浓浓的夜幕，无边的灯海穿透了城市向四周蔓延，与远处太平洋波涛拍岸的搏击声融为一体，旷古的自然与旧金山都市的文明交相辉映，使人们油然生成的联想飘向久远”,itisaparagraphwithtypicalChinesecharacteristics,whiletranslating,thetranslatorhaschangedtheoriginalorderbutmaintainedtheoriginalatmosphere,andrendersitinto:“TheMostReverentArchbishop,LadiesandGentleman,inthisbeautifulcityofSanFrancisco,amidthecandlelight,weprayforpeaceandforthevictimsoftheoutrageousatrocitiesandterrorism”,thetranslationcatersforthetargetforeigners.Otherwise,ifwerenderitastheoriginalChineseexpressionsdemand,Americanreaderswhoareparticularaboutbeingsimpleanddirectwillhavedifficultinunderstanding.Herearesomemoreexamples.“我，一个来自大洋彼岸”hasbeentranslatedinto“IamanordinarycitizenoftheChinesehistorycityofNanjingsituatedacrosstheocean”,whilethesentence“在这里，与各位女士、先生一起，共同感受”wastranslatedinto“Ihavecomeheretosharewithyouinthissolemnsilence”.Here,thetranslatedversionconformstotheprimaryintentionofthesourcetextinordertolettheforeignershavethesameecho.Differenttextshavedifferentfunctions.IfonetranslatortriestorenderaninformaltextintoEnglish,themostimportantrulethatheorsheshouldfollowistomakeiteasytounderstandandtriggertheinterestsofforeigners.Ifthetranslatortranslateitword-for-wordagainliketheauthoritativestatements,itmakesforeignersconfusedorpuzzled.Thefollowingexampleillustratestheembarrassmentthatforeignersfeelonsightofsuchtranslatingversions.83 Sourcetext:崂山,林木苍翠,繁花似锦,到处生机盎然,春天绿芽红花,夏天浓荫蔽日,秋天遍谷金黄,严冬则玉树琼花。TargetText1:Laoshanisfulloftrees,whichmakesthearealiving.Inspring,thereareredflowersandgreensprouts.Insummer,thebigtreesareamassofbranchesandleaves.Inautumn,theareaisfloodedwithyellowgrain.Asforwinter,treesarecoveredwithsnow.TargetText2:LaoshanScenicAreaisthicklycoveredwithtreesofmanyspecies,whichaddcreditforitsscenery.Theaboveisanexcerptofatourismbrochure,thefeatureofwhichismainlythefloweryexpressionthatcanattracttheeyeballsofthetourists.However,ifyoutranslateitword-for-wordfromChinesetoEnglish,youwillmakeabigmistakebecausethiskindoflivelypresentationisnotnecessaryforforeignconsumption.Thefirstreactionoftheforeignerwillbeunfortunatelylaughterbecauseitissofulloflanguagemistakes.Thecopyseemstotryto“show”thereaderwithfanciful,assertionsabouthowterrificitis,butinunintentionallyhilariouslanguagethatleavesthereaderlaughingoutuninformed,thebrochurealsosuffersfromlackofbackgroundmaterial,thetaking-it-for-grantedthatthereaderalreadyisfamiliarwithmanyaspectsofChinesehistoryandculture.Itdoesn’ttellreaderswhereLaoshanis,howtogetthere,whenthingsareopenandclosed,howmuchtheycost,andsoforth.Allthesearethingspeoplevisitinganareawanttoknow.Thesecondtargettextmadesomedeletionsoftheflowerywords,makingthetranslatedversionsimple,natural,smoothandmakeforeignerseasytoaccepttheinformation.Likewise,therearealotofsomeuniqueChineseexpressionsintouristmaterials,ifwetranslatesuchmaterialword-for-word,theforeignerswillbeataloss.Aword-for-wordtranslationleadstonothingbutconfusionforanyforeignerwhowantstovisitascenicspotinChina.Whiletranslating,especiallydoingthepublicity-orientedC-Etranslation,weshouldbeawareofthefunctionofthetargettextfromtheverybeginningtotheendduetothehugegapbetweenthesetwolanguages,Thatistosay,weshouldsupposeacertainaudiencebeforedoingthiskindoftranslationsandmakethemknowbetter83 aboutwhatwearetryingtotranslate.Weshouldconsiderthefollowingfactors:theprospectivereaders’expectation,functionofthetargettext.Letusexaminethefollowingexample:Sourcetext:东方明珠广播电视塔位于黄浦江畔、浦东陆家嘴嘴尖上,塔高468米,三面环水,与外滩的万国建筑博览群隔江相望,是亚洲第一、世界第三的高塔。TargetText1:SituatedontheHuangpuRiverandatthepointofLujiazuiinPudong,theOrientalPearlRadioandTelevisionTowerissurroundedbywatersonthreesidesandfacesarowofbuildingsofvariegatedinternationalarchitecturalstylesintheBundacrosstheriver.This468-meter-talltowerranksfirstinAsiaandthirdintheworldinheight.WhenwereadtheinformationinChinese,wewillfeelasenseofpride.However,theinformationwouldneverbecomethefocusofforeigners.Theyonlypayattentiontothelocationthattheycareabout.Sowhentranslatingit,thetranslatorsshouldavoidaword-for-wordtranslation,makingtheinformativepurposetheprimarygoal.What’smore,hereitseemstobefragmentsinlanguagestructuretoforeigners.Ifwetranslateitword-for-word,thetranslatedversionwillbeunacceptablebothinEnglishgrammarandstructure.Let’sseeanotherexample:Sourcetext:当你步入沟(九寨沟)中,便可见林中碧海澹荡生辉,瀑布舒洒似碧玉。一到金秋,满山枫叶绛红。盛夏,湖山幽翠。仲春,树绿花艳⋯⋯,四时都呈献出它的天然原始,宁静幽深。TargetText:Mysticlakesandsparklingwaterfallscaptivateyoureyesasyouentertheravine.Thetreesareintheirgreenestinspringwhenintensifiedbycolorfulflowers.Insummer,warmtintsspreadoverthehillsandlakelands.Assummermergesintoautumn,themapletreesturnfieryred.Splashingcolorthroughthethickforesthills⋯TranquilitypervadesprimitiveJiuzhaigouthroughouttheyear.Herethetranslatorabstractstheeffectiveinformationfromsourcetext,andrendersitintoatextthatthetargetreadersarewillingtoacceptandeasytounderstand.Thetranslatorhasadaptedthestructureandselectedappropriate83 wordsandexpressionsinordertomakewhattheintentionofthesourcetextcleartotheprospectiveaudienceoftargettext.TheintendedtextfunctionistomaketheforeignersknowtheinformationaboutJiuzhaigouandattracttouristsandbuildupafinereputationofJiuzhaigou.Thereforethetranslatortranslates“可见林中碧海澹荡生辉,瀑布舒洒似碧玉”into“Mysticlakesandsparklingwaterfallscaptivateyoureyes”,“四时都呈献出它的天然原始,宁静幽深”into“Splashingcolorthroughthethickforesthills⋯TranquilitypervadesprimitiveJiuzhaigouthroughouttheyear”.Suchtranslationiseasytounderstandandwouldbepopularwiththeforeigners.Onlyinthiswaycanthegoalofsmoothcommunicationbeachieved,whichiseffectiveandpractical.4.2PublicityMaterialTranslationasaPurposefulAdaptationInactualpublicitymaterialtranslationpractice,translatorshavenoticedthatpublicitymaterialstranslatedbyconventionalmethods,namely,literaltranslation,semantictranslationortransliterationoftenfailtocommunicatewiththetargetaudiencesuccessfully.Sotheysuggestthatadjustmentandcompensationbeemployedinpublicitymaterialtranslation.Forexample,SuShuhuiputforth,“Duetotheculturalandlinguisticdifferencesbetweenlanguages,asuccessfultranslationinonenationdoesn’tguaranteeitssuccessinanothernation.Iftranslatedword-by-wordwithoutanyadjustment,thetranslationisverylikelytofailtoperformitsfunction.…adjustmentsarepermitted…”(苏淑惠，1996:51-54)Althoughmanyfactorshavetobetakenintoone’sselection-makinginpublicitymaterialtranslation,thischapterwillmerelyfocusontheconsiderationofculturesinceitisthemajorfactoraffectingtranslators’selectionsintheprocessoftranslatingpublicitymaterials.Withreferencetoanumberofreal-lifeexamplesofpublicitymaterials,thischapterwillexplainindetailhowspecificculturalelementsaffectingtranslators’linguisticselectionsandhowculturaladaptationcontributetotheachievementofpurposesoftranslatedpublicitymaterials.Accordingtoskopostheory,translator’schoiceoftranslationstrategiesis83 alwaysguidedbythepurposesofthetranslation.Inanarrowsense,adaptationreferstoreorganizingasentencebymeansofconcretizationandborrowing,bothofwhichwillbediscussedindetaillaterinthispart.Themethodofomissionisalsoincludedandhasalreadybeendiscussedin3.6.2and3.6.3inchapterthree.Inabroadsense,adaptationalsoreferstoreorganizingaparagraphoreventhewholetext,forexample,rewritingandbackgrounding.Inanageofinformationexplosion,foreignreadersmaynotreadeverywordinalongnewspaperstorybecausetimedoesn’tallowit.Theymayjustgothroughtheheadlineandreadthefirstfewparagraphstogetthemostimportantmessages.Thisrequiresatranslatortomakesomeadaptationstotheoriginaltextbydistillingitsessence.Purposefuladaptationheremeansadaptationsoradjustmentsaremadetothesourcetextorthepurposefulselectionsoftranslationtechniquesinordertoconformtothelinguistic,cultural,aestheticstandards,differentwaysofthinkingandothernormsinthetargetculturesothatthetranslatedpublicitymaterialscanbewellacceptedbythetargetconsumersandthereforeperformsitsfunctionssuccessfullyinthetargetmarket.Thisstrategyistarget-text-centeredanditsfinalaimistoproduceatranslatedpublicitymaterialwhichfunctionswellinthetargetculture.4.2.1AdaptingtoAestheticStandardsDifferentlocationsandnaturalconditionsbetweenChinaandwesterncountrieshaveresultedindistinctivelocalcultures;thedistinctivelocalcultureswillunavoidablyleadtodifferentaestheticstandardsandwaysofthinking.TheChinesepeopleappreciateandconsiderthingsinadifferentperspectivefromEnglishnativesbecauseofdifferentaestheticstandardsandwaysofthinking.TheaestheticstandarddiffersintheChineseandEnglishculture.Chinesetendstobeelegant,ornateandexquisiteinwritingwhilewesternersappreciatethebeautyofnaturethroughthespecificandconcretereproductionofthenature.Therefore,theEnglishlanguageiscomparativelyobjective,concreteandplain.Itiseasyforustofindtheover-decorativeandfancyexpressionsintheChineseedition83 especiallyinthosearticlesintroducingscenicspot.OnChapterThreewehavediscussedtheproblemin“howtobridgethegapbetweendifferentcultures”,herewe’llnotdiscussfurtherexamples.Differentnationhasdifferentlikesanddislikesofanimals.Whatisconsideredagoodomeninoneculturemaynotsymbolizethesameinanother.Ifwearenotfamiliarwiththecustomsindifferentcountries,whatwehavedonemaybecomenothing.Inthissituation,aestheticstandardsadaptationmayhelpatranslatorinfindingamorepropertargetpublicitymaterial.Thefollowingexamplewillshowthispoint:Forinstance,“喜鹊”symbolizestheforetellingofgoodnewsinChina,whiletomostEnglish-speakingpeople,itstandsforgossipasintheEnglishidiom“astalkativeasmagpie”shows.AndSwedishpeoplerelatethebirdwithwitchcraftwhileinScotlandamagpieflyingintoone’shouseforecastsdeath.Therefore,whentranslating“喜鹊”,thetranslator’slinguisticselectionsshouldbeadaptedtotheculturalconnotationimpliedinsuchwords.Let’sseeanotherexample,“dragon”isalwaysthesymbolofriches,honors,power,authorityandluckintheseveralthousandsyears’historyinChina.ItisoneofthemostrespectableanimalstoalltheChinese.TherearemanyChineseidiomsandstoriesaboutdragon.Allthethingslinkedwithdragonaregoodandrighteous.However,inwesterncountries,mostcountrieslookdragonastheembodimentofevilanddisaster.Let’ssuppose,ifweChinesepeopledon’tknowtheaestheticstandardsdifferencesbetweenusandwesterncountries,andweuse“DRAGON”inourproductandtouristbrochure,whichisaccessibletoforeigners.Whatkindofeffectswillweget?Thatwillbeashametous.Therefore,whenwetranslateaChinesepillowcase“鸳鸯”,werenderthetranslationas“Lovebirds”insteadof“MandarinDucks”.ToEnglishspeakers,thelattermeansnothingotherthanakindofduck.“Lovebirds”isactuallycreatedoutofpurposefulaestheticadaptation.Thetranslationof“福娃”,themascotof2008OlympicGames,seemstobedifficult.InBeijingReview,ChinaToday,ChinaDaily,wecansee“friendliness”is83 used.Butis“friendliness”equals“福娃”?Let’sseesomeotherversionsfirst:wecannotgettheaestheticfeelingof“福娃”fromtheversionof“5Blessingsorthe5Luckies”.Similarly,“Amidollies”isnotanappropriatenameforthemascots.“Ami”isaLatinstemwidelyunderstoodintheWest.Itstandsfor“friendship”,“friendliness”.Buttowhatextentcanwesee“friendship”or“friendliness”equal“福娃”?Somebodysuggestsusingtheword“amity”-itmeansfriendship.So,howaboutcallingthemthe“BabiesAmities”?Comparedwiththeabovetwotranslation,“BabiesAmities”givespeopleanimage,buthere“福娃”isafarcryfromthe“Babies”(婴孩).Therefore,Perhapsjust“friends”mightsoundbetter,ormaybe“fivefabulousfriends”or”fiveflyingfriends”willbebetterbyusingthedeviceofalliterationinwhicheachwordbeginswiththesamesound“f”.However,afterasecondconsideration,wefindthathere“fivefabulousfriends”or“fiveflyingfriends”losesthelovelyimageof“福娃”thoughitcanbecalledapartialequivalence.Otheralternatepossibilitiesare:“goodluckguys”;“Blesseddolls”;“Beijingbabies”;“luckydolls”;“dolldelights”;“babybeauties”;“prosperitypeople”etc,Accordingtoanativespeaker,“Doll”canbeaslangforagoodlookingwoman,butithasanegativeconnotationwhichdiminisheswomen.“Blesseddolls”carriesreligiousconnotationsagain,notOKformanypeople.“FriendlyDoll”mightevensuggestawomanwhoissexuallypromiscuous,oratleastaflirt.Sothattheabovetranslationareallnotsuitablebasedontheaboveanalysis.Intheprocessoftranslating,weshouldconsideralotoffactors,theaboveversionof“Friendlies”isatypicalexample.Thereforewecanrender“福娃”into“FuWa—FiveFriendlies”whichcatersforbothChineseandwesterners.Nowadayswiththeimprovementofstatusintheworld,Chineseisbeinglearntbymoreandmoreforeigners,“FuWa”notonlyremindspeopleofthefivelovelymascotsbutalsotheChinesecharacter.4.2.2AdaptingtoTargetReader’sPsychology83 “Intermsofnewswritingstyle,foreigners,especiallywesternerswhospeakEnglish,preferterse,clearandplainlanguageandwouldlikethefactsandinformationtobepresentedinastraightwayratherthanemptytalk,exaggeratedadjectivesorundulycomplicatedsentencesandstructures.”(刘洪潮，2005:122-123).AChinesetouristmanualtendstoemployplentyofadjectivestodescribeascenicspot.Ofcourse,foreignersneedtohaveageneralideaaboutthescenicspotlikethescenery,environment,etc,buttheyarealsoconcernedabouthowtogotothatscenicspot,whetheritenjoyseasytransportation,howaboutthelivingconditionsandfoodpriceinnearbyhotels,allofwhichareoftenmissinginthetouristmanual.“Fromtheviewpointofcommunication,suchwordswhichdonotrevealinformationdirectlydisturbtheeffectivetransmissionofinformationandaffectreceptors’receivinginformation.Therefore,theyshouldbedeletedinthetranslationprocesswhilethemosteffectiveinformationshouldberetained.”(许明武,2003:418)Forexample:她认为离开了办公大楼,⋯⋯谁知是离开了咸菜缸,又跳进了萝卜窖。(蒋子龙:《赤橙黄绿青蓝紫》)Here“咸菜缸”and“萝卜窖”arebothofChinesecharacteristics,itspragmaticmeaninghasnoconnectingwiththeimage“ajarofsaltedvegetables”or“radishcellar”.Ifwetranslatethemword-for-word,readerswillbedefinitelyatloss.Thereforewecandeletethemtocaterforthepsychologyofthereaderandonlyrenderitsmeaningof“frombadtoworse”.InChina,“一龙一猪”meanstheextremeoftwopersons,oneisverysmartandcompetent,theotherisextremelyfoolishandclumsy.Ifwegivethetranslationas:“Oneisadragon,anotherisapig”,theEnglishnativecan’tunderstand.Inthecasethatwecan’tfinditsEnglishequivalent,wecanexplainitsmeaningtocaterforthereaders’psychology:“Oneisverycapable,whiletheotherisextremelyincompetent.”Hereisanotherexample:“老少皆宜”isrenderedinto“suitableforman,womenandchildren”insteadof“suitableforoldandyoung”.InChina,theword83 “old”meansexperiencedandkind,peopleshowahighrespectforoldpeople.Whileinwest,theword“old”meansuseless.Inthiscase,weshouldmakeadaptationtotargetreader’spsychology.Theadaptationmakesthemeaningofthetranslationmoreacceptabletothewesterners.Similarly,“顾客就是上帝”istranslatedas“Customerfirst”insteadof“thecustomerislord”.Theforeignreaders’religiousbeliefandpsychologyareconsidered.4.2.3AdaptingtoHistoricalBackgroundChinaisacountrywithalonghistoryofover5000years.Ithasawidevarietyoflandscapesandhistoricsiteswheresomanyfascinatinghistoricalstoriestookplace.ChinesehistoryisreflectedineveryaspectofChinesehumanityculture.Asdifferentnationsandcountrieshaveexperienceddifferenthistoricaldevelopmentprocesses,thehistoricalculturesthusformedarealsodifferent.Withsuchalonghistoryandsuchanexquisiteculture,Chinaboastsalargenumberofancientclassics.RefinedscholarsandwritersinChinesehistoryandeventodaywouldliketoquotefromthosebooksclassicallusionslike“完璧归赵”,“诸侯争霸”,“逐鹿中原”“四面楚歌”and“三过家门而不入”.Thoughfamiliarwithcommonones,evenweChinesedarenotsay,“Iknowalltheclassicallusions”,letaloneforeignreaders.Inmostcaseswhenweuseaclassicallusion,itsmeaningplaysthekeyrolewhileitsformisonlyaffiliatedtothemeaning.Whenwesaysomeone“三过家门而不入”,weactuallymean“themanisverydevotedtohiscareer”ratherthan“themanpassedhishomethreetimeswithoutgettingin.”Sowehavetomakesomeadaptationintranslatingaclassicallusion.Concretelyspeaking,wetranslatethemeaningratherthantheform.Nidaholdsthat“When,thereupon,onemustbeabandonedforthesakeoftheother,themeaningmusthavepriorityoverthestylisticforms.”(Nida,EugeneA,1975:33).Healsoholdsthat“Translatingconsistsinreproducinginthereceptorlanguagetheclosestnaturalequivalentofthesource-languagemessage”.(Nida,EugeneA.&Taber,CharlesR.83 1982:12).Wemaytranslateitliterallyandaddtherelatedstorytoit.Forexample,Sourcetext:“惠州市是广东省辖城市，位于广东省的东南部，珠江三角洲的东端，属于今日珠江三角洲经济开发区。战国时期属楚国，隋朝称‘循州’并设府。公元1021年改称惠州。据《方兴纪要》载：惠州‘东接长汀，北连赣岭，控潮梅之襟要，半广南之辅翼，大海横陈，群山拥后，诚岭南之名郡也.”Targettext:Huizhoucityislocatedatthesouth-easternpartofGuangdongProvinceandtheeastpartofPearlRiverDelta,whichisunderprovincialadministration.Itisanopenzoneofeconomicdevelopment.IthasbeenanadministrationprefecturenamedXunzhoueversincetheSuiDynasty(581-618AD).After1021itwasnamedHuizhouuntilnow.Thecityisaveryimportantspotforherstrategicandgeographicposition.”(汤富华,2000:1)Obviously,thetranslatorisadeptinhandlingclassicallusions.TheclassicallusioninthepassageaboveisquotedtoshowHuizhou’slonghistory.EvenChinesereadersmayfindithardtounderstand,letaloneforeignreaders.Oneislikelytodoathanklessjobtotranslatesuchclassicallusions.ByaddingthetimeoftheSuiDynastyandtheimportanceofHuizhou’slocation,thetranslatormanagestosupplementandconveytheinformationtoitstargetreadersinasuccessfulway.4.2.4OtherTranslatingTechniquesofAdaptation4.2.4.1ConcretizationUnlikeChinese,Englishprefersconcretelanguage.InChinese,weoftenusetheabstractword“单位”,whichisoftentranslatedabstractlyas“workunit”inmostChinese-Englishdictionaries.Soahugenumberof“文明单位”signsarestereotypicallytranslatedas“ModelUnit”.Inpointoffact,wecanuseconcretewordslike“hospital”,“highschool”,“store”,“company”,“institute”andsoforthtomakethemeaningmoreclear.Ifa“文明单位”referstoacompanyoraninstitute,itcanberenderedintoEnglishlikethis:modelcompanyormodelinstitute.83 AnotherabstractwordtheChineseprefertouseis“同志”,whichhasbeenpasseddownfromtherevolutionarydays.Ithaslittleornoconcretemeaning,butiswidelyusedafteraChineseperson’sname,especiallyanofficial’s.Itisstereotypicallytranslatedas“comrade”inthecorrespondingEnglishtext.Forexample,theexpression“ComradeHuJintao”notonlyconveyslittleinformationbutalsosoundsarchaicasifwewerestillinthoserevolutionarydays.Thereupon,itisbettertoappendaperson’sposttohisnameandomit“同志”tocrystallizeit—“胡锦涛同志”canbetranslatedas“ChinesePresidentHuJintao”.4.2.4.2BorrowingBorrowingmeansusingexistingproperorordinarynamesinthetargetlanguagesothatforeignerswillbegivenaroughideaofwhatissaidinChinese.ThepeculiarityofborrowinginpublicitytranslationliesinthatitcanenhancethereadabilityofEnglishpublicitymaterials.Borrowingcanhelpovercomeculturaldifferencesandbridgethegapthusformedincross-culturalcommunication.Thisisdonebecausewemayhavelimitedspace,asinanintroductiontoatouristdestinationengravedonawallwithlessthanonehundredwords.Ifitwereprintedinatouristbookwithenoughspace,wemayaswelladdseveralbackgroundnotestogiveforeignersadetailedaccount.Ontheotherhand,withanobjectofreferenceintheirmothertongue,foreignerscangraspthemeaningofwhatissaidmoreeasily.“Itisnotabadwayofexplainingsomethingbyresortingtosomethingalreadyknowntoforeigners.”(沈苏儒,2004:105).Forexample,“害群之马”istranslatedas“blacksheep”insteadof“blackhorse”.“害群之马”inChineseand“blacksheep”inEnglishhavethesamemeaningbutemploydifferentimages.Inordertofacilitateculturalcommunication,theimagehasbeenchangedtomakethemeaningclearertothetargetreaders.Similarly,WemaysayConfuciusisChina’sAristotlebecausebothofthemaregreatsagesinphilosophy.BeijingUniversityandTsinghuaUniversitycouldbecomparedtotwoBritishuniversities－OxfordUniversityandCambridgeUniversityorAmerica’sHarvardUniversityandYale83 Universitybecausealloftheseuniversitiesaretoponesintermsoftheiracademicprestigeinrespectivecountries.Thestoryof“LiangShanboandZhuYingtai”isjustlikethestoryof“RomeoandJuliet”whenitisintroducedtoforeignerssothattheforeignreaderswillbeenlightenedbythisanalogy.Let’sseeanotherexample:Sourcetext:银川是宁夏回族自治区的首府，位于甘肃省中心。从明清以来，她就是伊斯兰教在西北部的居住地和传播中心。Targettext:HonoredasasmallerMecca,Yinchuan,thecapitalofNingxiaHuiAutonomousPrefectureislocatedincentralGansuProvince.sincetheMingandQingdynasties,YinchuanhasbeenaplaceforMoslemstoliveandacenterofIslamiceducationintheNorthwest.TheaboveexampleconnectsYinchuanwithsmallerMecca,theholiestcityofIslamandapilgrimagesiteforalldevoutMoslems.YinchuanistheseatofNingxiaHuiAutonomousPrefectureinGansuProvince.Smallcityasitis,itboasts30mosquesofvaryingsizes.TheHuipeoplearebelieversofIslamandeachyearmanyHuipeoplemakeapilgrimagetoitasinMecca.ThuswhenintroducingNingxiatoforeigners,wecouldspeakofitasChina’slittleMeccatoshowitsimportantpositionasaMuslimcityinChina.FormallyknownasMotionPictureAcademyAwards,OscarswereestablishedinLosAngeles,1927.Sincethen,ithasenjoyedgreatfameinthefilmcircle.ItnotonlyreflectsthedevelopmentandaccomplishmentoftheU.S.filmindustry,buthasalsoexertedgreatinfluenceonothercountries’filmindustry.GoldenRoosterAwards,establishedin1981,whichwastheyearofRoosterontheChineselunarcalendar,areprofessionalfilmawardsinChina.Theannualawards,whosestatuetteislikeacrowingrooster,aimtoinspirethoseengagedinthefilmindustry.GoldenHorseAwards(金马奖)inTaiwanandHongkongFilmAwards(香港电影金像奖)arejustmoreorlessthesameasGoldenRoosterAwardsonthemainland.SotellingforeignersGoldenRoosterAwardsareChina’sOscarortellingthemGoldenHorseAwardsareTaiwan’sOscarandHongkongFilmAwardsareHongkong’83 sOscarcanenablethemtohaveaquickandroughideaaboutthethreefilmawards.4.2.4.3BackgroundingBackgroundingisdifferentfrombackgroundexplanationinthatthelatterisusuallyanexplanationattachedtoanoun,aphraseoranexpressionespeciallyonewithChinesepeculiaritywhiletheformerprovidesanoverallbackgroundtoawholearticleorparagraph.Backgroundingcouldbeashortpassageorseveralsentencesgivingthereadersanoverallidea.SuchmessagesareusuallyfamiliartotheChinesebutnewtoforeignersandcouldbeputinthebeginningortheendofanarticleoraparagraph.Theycanhelpforeignersbetterunderstandanarticleasbackgroundexplanationandcanhelpforeignersbetterunderstandanoun,aphraseoranexpressionwithChinesepeculiarity.Forinstance:(1)大理自古以来就是中国同东南亚、南亚各国文化交流和商贸往来的重要门户。西南丝绸之路和茶马古道在这里交汇，四川的蜀锦、云南的普洱茶等途经大理运往印度、阿富汗等国。（《今日中国》2005年第6期）DaliwasthecapitaloftheTangDynasty(618-907)NanzhaoKingdomandSongDynasty(960-1279)DaliKingdom.Ithasbeenthegatewaytocultural,commercialandtradeexchangesformillennia.ItwasfromDali,wheretheSouthwesternSilkRoadandtheAncientTea-HorseTrailjoin,thatShubrocadefromSichuanProvinceandPu’erTeafromYunnanProvincewereexportedtoIndiaandAfghanistan.(ChinaToday,June2005)(2)传统的民族扎染深受国内外客商的青睐，是每位来大理的人必带的特色纪念品，已经获得国家经贸部荣誉证书和出口免检证书。大理制品、云木家具、毛毯、皮毛制品，针织品、草帽、胶合板、牛皮纸等产品也深受消费者的喜爱。83 （《今日中国》2005年第6期）Traditionalethnictie-dyeditemsofclothingaremust-buysouvenirsforChineseandinternationaltourists,aswellasmarbleproducts,woodenfurniture,blankets,furandleatherproductsandknitwear.Today’sDaliiswesternYunnan’sbiggestproductionbaseforlightandtextileindustry,andbuildingandcigarettesubsidiarymaterials.ItswholesalemarketsforsteelandvegetablesandexpandedcommoditytransactionsattracttradersfromalloverYunnanaswellasneighboringprovinces.(ChinaToday,June2005)ThesentencesinitalicsarenotfoundintheChineseversion.Nonetheless,withthisbackgrounding,foreignerscanhaveanoverallideaaboutDali,whichiscertainlyconducivetotheirfurtherreading.4.2.4.4RewritingSometimesweneedtoadoptthemethodofrewritingbygraspingtheessenceoftheoriginalandreorganizingtheinformationoftheoriginal.Thestrategyofrewritingreferstotherearrangementofthesourcetexttoimprovethereadabilityofthetargettext.Weneedtorearrangethecontentsorthestructureofthesourcetexttoimprovethereadabilityofthetargettextandmakethemmoreacceptable.Otherwise,foreignerswillfindnowaytocomprehendthemeaningofthetranslatedversion.Forexample:“刘备章武三年死于白帝城永安宫，五月运回成都，八月葬于惠陵。”（IntroductiontotheWuhouAncestralTemple）Here,“章武三年”,“五月”and“八月”isdifficulttotranslate,sincetheaboveexampleisexcerptedfromasimpleintroductiontotheWuhouAncestralTemple,andthewholetextisnomorethan1000words,wecan’tadoptthemethodof“AddingsomeChineseABCs”wehaveintroducedinthebeginningofChapterFour.Foreignersdon’tknowwhichspecificyear“章武三年”isandwhere“白帝城永安宫”islocated.“八月”herereferstotheconceptinChineselunarcalendarandwecan’ttranslateitas“August”.Thereforewecanrenderitas:“LiuBeidiedofillnessin83 233atpresentdayFengjiecounty,SichuanProvince,andwasburiedhereinthesameyear”.Lotsofadvertisementsdon’tappealtoforeignersbecausethetargettextcorrespondsrigidlyinformwiththesourcetext.Forinstance,“世界首创，中国一绝－椰子汁”wasrenderedinto“ThePioneeroftheWorld.TheMostDeliciousinChina.NaturalCoconutJuice.”Theliteraltranslationislooseandunnatural,thuslosethepotentialcustomsandthesuggestedversionis“NaturalCocoJuice:aWorldSpecialwithanEnjoymentbeyondWords.”83 ConclusionHavingbeenattractedbychina’ssplendidculture,alargenumberofforeignerscometochinaeveryyear,theyareattractedbyChinesescenicspots,ChineseproductsandChinesepolicy,theyareeagertoacquireafurtherunderstandingofuniqueChineseculture.Foreignpublicitymaterialsareprovidedtopeoplefromallovertheworld,itisawindowofacountry’snationalimage,onwhichthequalityofpublicitytranslationhasadirectbearing.“Translationactsasacommunicativeprocessandcommunicativetoolbetweenthetwodifferentlanguagecommunities.Thepurposeoftranslationistopromotetheirrelationshipinpolicy,andtoenrichtheireconomyandculture.Tobeexact,thetaskoftranslationistoconveythesourcetexttotargettextappropriatelyandfluently”(ZhangJin,see李静,2003:71).Thisisacompletedescriptiontothegoalandtaskoftranslation.Thusanytranslatorwithasenseofresponsibilityshouldpaymuchattentiontotheirworkandpromotethequalityoftranslationthroughlongtimepractice.However,thefactisthatmistakesaresoprevalentinsomeofourpublicitytranslationthatwemustdosomethingtocorrecttheminordertopresenttotherestoftheworldabetterimageofChina.Asapracticaltranslation,publicitymaterialtranslationwasonceaneglectedtopicinChina.Manyresearcheshavebeenmadefromlingualandculturalperspective,butonedrawbackofthesestudiesisthattheyareempiricalandnotsystematic.TakingadvantageoftheachievementsmadesofarbythepreviousresearchesandonthetheoreticalbasisofVermeer’sSkopostheorie,thisthesismakesananalysisofthepurposesandfunctionsofpublicitymaterial,listssomeofthemostcommonmistakesinpublicitytranslation.Eachkindofmistakeisshowntogetherwithoneormoreexamplesplusanalysisandthenpointsoutthattarget-text-orientedstrategyshouldbethebasicstrategytoforeignpublicitytranslationinwhichpurposefuladaptationoftranslationmethodsismade.Inthisthesis,theauthormadeadetailedanalysison“translationbrief”.Besides,theauthorfocusesontheanalysisofpurposefuladaptationsoftranslationmethods.Onthe83 analysisoftheoriginaltext,adaptationdoesn’tmeancasualorrandomtranslation.Itcanbeusedinthetranslationofpublicitymaterialsandachievefavorableeffect,butthatdoesn’tmeanitisapplicabletoallthetexttypesinanysituation.Inaword,theaimofthisthesisistofindawaytoguidethepracticalpublicitymaterialtranslation.TheauthorattemptstomakeanexplorationoftheapplicationsofSkopostheorieinit.Althoughtranslationtheoriescanguideusinourtranslationpractice,wecan’timprovethequalityofourpublicitytranslationwithoutplentyofpractice.Practicemakesperfect.PeterNewmarksaysthat“It(translationtheory)cannotmakeabadtranslatorintoagoodone.Itcannotmakeastudentintelligentorsensitive—twoqualitiesofagoodtranslator.Infact,ifsomeoneissensitivetolanguageaswellashisownlanguageandpursuesfactsaswellaswords,hecandowithouttranslationtheory,justasanactorsensitivetohisartcandowithouttraining.”(Newmark,Peter,1981:36)Duetothelimitationoftheknowledgeinthefieldofpublicitymaterial,theexplorationofforeignpublicitymaterialmadebytheauthormaynotbeprofoundandmaynotbetothepoint,nottosayauthoritative.Flawsanddeficienciesareunavoidableinspiteoftheauthor’sgreatefforts.Firstly,theexampleshereinthethesistohelpthereaderunderstandthetheorymoreeasilycannotcoverallareasandtheymaynotbetypicalandrepresentativeofallthevarietiesofpublicitymaterials.Theconcretetranslationmethodsproposedinthesismightnotbeappliedtoallkindsofforeignpublicitymaterial.Secondly,SkopstheoryhasbeenadoptedtoanalyzeChinese-Englishtranslationofpublicitymaterials,butitisfarfromperfectandcannotbeusedasapanaceaforallproblems.Oneofitslimitationsisthatthe“translationbrief”mightunderestimatetheexactmeaningofthesourcetext,whichprobablyresultsinlossofculturalinformationinpublicity.Theemphasisonthetargettextaddresseemaybeattheexpenseofrichnessofmeaning.Therefore,morerelevanttranslationtheoriesneedtobediscussedandapplied.Thirdly,inboththeoryandpracticaltranslation,publicitytranslationisaverycomplicatedtask,someoftheideasinthethesiscannotescapetheaccusation83 ofsubjectivity.Inaword,furtherstudiesofthetranslationofforeignpublicitymaterialneedtobecarriedontodealwithnewchallengesinthisfield.83 Bibliography1.Baker,Mona.RoutledgeEncyclopediaofTranslationStudies[M].Shanghai:ShanghaiForeignLanguageEducationPress,2004.2.Munday,J.IntroducingTranslationStudies:TheoriesandApplication[M].LondonandNewYork:Routledge,2001.3.Newmark,Peter.ApproachestoTranslation[M].NewYork:OxfordPergamonPress,1981.4.Nida,EugeneA.LanguageStructureandTranslation[M].Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress,1975.5.Nida,EugeneA.&Taber,CharlesR.TheTheoryandPracticeofTranslation[M].NewYork:UnitedBibleSocieties,1982.6.Nord,Christian.TranslatingasapurposeActivity:FunctionalistApproachesExplained[M].Shanghai:ShanghaiForeignLanguageEducationPress,2001.7.OxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish-ChineseDictionary(Fourthedition)[M].Beijing:TheCommercialPressandOxfordUniversityPress,1997.8.Pinkham,Joan.TheTranslator’sGuidetoChinglish[M].Beijing:ForeignLanguageTeachingandResearchPress,2000.9.Reiss,K.Texttypes,translationtypesandtranslationassessment[A].In:Chesterman,A.(ed.)ReadingsinTranslationTheory.OyFinnLecturaAb[C].Chesterman,1989.10.Strunk,William,Jr.andE.B.White.TheElementsofStyle[M].NewYork:1979.11.Webster’sNewCollegiateDictionary[Z].G.&C.MerriamCompany,Springfield,Mass,1973.12.包惠南，包昂，《中国文化与汉英翻译》[M].北京：外文出版社,2004.83 13陈柳婷，《翻译与守门人－论对外宣传品的中译英》[MA].广西：广西大学,2001.14.陈小慰，“简评译文功能理论”[J].《上海科技翻译》，1995(4).15.陈小慰，“翻译功能理论的启示”[J].《中国翻译》，2000（4）.16.陈小慰，《语言·功能·翻译》[M].福州：福建教育出版社，1998.17.程镇球，《翻译问题探索－毛选英译研究》[M].北京：商务印书馆，1980.18.段连城，“呼吁：请译界同仁都来关心对外宣传”[J].《中国翻译》，1990（5）.19.段连城，《对外传播学初探》（增订版）[M].北京：五洲传播出版社，2004.20.郭建中，“翻译中的文化因素:异化与归化”[J].《外国语》，1998（2）.21.郭嵘，《对外宣传材料的中译英错误分析》[MA].北京：对外经济贸易大学，2003.22.“汉译英时事政经用语选登”[J].《中国翻译》，2006（3）.23.柯细香，“浅谈skopostheory与旅游翻译的英译”[J].《中南民族大学学报》人文社会科学版：2002(22).24.李爱珍，《南京对外宣传英语翻译质量刍译》[MA].南京：南京师范大学，2005.25.李斌，《对外宣传资料的归化翻译》[MA].广东：广东外语外贸大学，2003.26.李静，《从目的论视角试析广告的汉英翻译》[MA].上海：上海外国语大学，2006.27.李雅彬，《对外宣传材料中译英的影响因素及翻译策略－从奈达的功能对等理论角度探讨》[MA].北京：对外经济贸易大学，2006.28.李运兴，“语际翻译中的文化因素”.《文化与翻译》[M].北京：中国对外翻译出版公司，2000.29.刘洪潮，《怎样做对外宣传报道》[M].北京：中国传媒大学出版社，2005.30.刘家林，《中国新闻通史》（修订版）[M].湖北：武汉大学出版社，2005.83 31.刘建明主编，《宣传舆论学大辞典》[M].北京：经济日报出版社，1992.32.龙璐，《从德国功能派翻译理论的角度看外宣资料的英译》[MA].湖南：湖南师范大学，2006.33.裘克安，“中英互译与二十一世纪”[J].《中国翻译》，1999(5).34.《神秘的香格里拉》[Z].北京：中国旅游出版社，1999.35.沈苏儒，《对外报道教程》（增订版）[M].北京：五洲传播出版社，2004.36.苏淑惠，“广告英语的文体功能与翻译标准”[J].《外国语》，1996(2).37.沈苏儒，《对外传播的理论与实践》（增订版）[M].北京：五洲传播出版社，2004.38.汤富华，“谈企业对外宣传品的文体特点及英译技巧”[J].中国科技翻译，2000(1).39.唐莹，《翻译目的论在中国旅游中的翻译》[MA].英国：利兹大学，2006.40.王弄笙，“汉英翻译中的Chinglish”[J].《中国翻译》，2000(2).41.吴景荣，程镇球主编，《新时代汉英大词典》[Z].北京：商务印书馆，2000.42.许勉君，《对外宣传材料翻译的现状、存在问题及解决办法》[MA].广东：广东外语外贸大学，2002.43.许明武，《新闻英语与翻译》[M].北京：中国对外翻译出版公司，2003.44.袁晓宁，“外宣英译的策略及其理据”[J].《中国翻译》，2005(1).45.喻旭燕，TranslationVariationsinForeignPublicity[MA].浙江：浙江大学，2003.46.翟树耀，《对外宣传报道与英语写作》[M].厦门：厦门大学出版社，2001.47.张健，“英语对外报道并非逐字英译”，[J].《上海科技翻译》，2001(4)48.张健，《报刊新词英译纵横》[M].上海：上海科技教育出版社，2001.49.张健，“再谈汉语新词新义的英译”[J].《中国翻译》，2001(4).50.张健，《新闻英语文体与范文评析》(第二版)[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，2004.83 51.张美芳，《翻译研究的功能途径》[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，2005.52.张琦，《功能学派翻译理论对我国对外宣传文本翻译的指导意义》[MA].北京：首都师范大学，2007.53.《中国翻译》编辑部，《中译英技巧文集》[C].北京：中国对外翻译出版公司，1992.54.仲伟合，钟钰，“德国的功能派翻译理论”[J].《中国翻译》，1999(3).55.庄绎传，《英汉翻译教程》[M].北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1999.学位论文原创性声明本人郑重声明：所呈交的学位论文，是本人在导师的指导下进行的研究工作所取得的成果。尽我所知，除文中已经特别注明引用的内容和致谢的地方外，本论文不包含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写过的研究成果。对本文的研究做出重要贡献的个人和集体，均已在文中以明确方式注明并表示感谢。本人完全意识到本声明的法律结果由本人承担。学位论文作者（本人签名）：年月日学位论文出版授权书本人及导师完全同意《中国博士学位论文全文数据库出版章程》、《中国优秀硕士学位论文全文数据库出版章程》(以下简称“章程”)，愿意将本人的学位论文提交“中国学术期刊（光盘版）电子杂志社”在《中国博士学位论文全文数据库》、《中国优秀硕士学位论文全文数据库》中全文发表和以电子、网络形式公开出版，并同意编入CNKI《中国知识资源总库》，在《中国博硕士学位论文评价数据库》中使用和在互联网上传播，同意按“章程”规定享受相关权益。83 论文密级：□公开□保密（___年__月至__年__月）(保密的学位论文在解密后应遵守此协议)作者签名：_______导师签名：______________年_____月_____日_______年_____月_____日83 独创声明本人郑重声明：所呈交的毕业设计(论文)，是本人在指导老师的指导下，独立进行研究工作所取得的成果，成果不存在知识产权争议。尽我所知，除文中已经注明引用的内容外，本设计（论文）不含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写过的作品成果。对本文的研究做出重要贡献的个人和集体均已在文中以明确方式标明。本声明的法律后果由本人承担。 作者签名:二〇一〇年九月二十日 毕业设计（论文）使用授权声明本人完全了解滨州学院关于收集、保存、使用毕业设计（论文）的规定。本人愿意按照学校要求提交学位论文的印刷本和电子版，同意学校保存学位论文的印刷本和电子版，或采用影印、数字化或其它复制手段保存设计（论文）；同意学校在不以营利为目的的前提下，建立目录检索与阅览服务系统，公布设计（论文）的部分或全部内容，允许他人依法合理使用。（保密论文在解密后遵守此规定） 作者签名:二〇一〇年九月二十日83 致谢时间飞逝，大学的学习生活很快就要过去，在这四年的学习生活中，收获了很多，而这些成绩的取得是和一直关心帮助我的人分不开的。首先非常感谢学校开设这个课题，为本人日后从事计算机方面的工作提供了经验，奠定了基础。本次毕业设计大概持续了半年，现在终于到结尾了。本次毕业设计是对我大学四年学习下来最好的检验。经过这次毕业设计，我的能力有了很大的提高，比如操作能力、分析问题的能力、合作精神、严谨的工作作风等方方面面都有很大的进步。这期间凝聚了很多人的心血，在此我表示由衷的感谢。没有他们的帮助，我将无法顺利完成这次设计。首先，我要特别感谢我的知道郭谦功老师对我的悉心指导，在我的论文书写及设计过程中给了我大量的帮助和指导，为我理清了设计思路和操作方法，并对我所做的课题提出了有效的改进方案。郭谦功老师渊博的知识、严谨的作风和诲人不倦的态度给我留下了深刻的印象。从他身上，我学到了许多能受益终生的东西。再次对周巍老师表示衷心的感谢。其次，我要感谢大学四年中所有的任课老师和辅导员在学习期间对我的严格要求，感谢他们对我学习上和生活上的帮助，使我了解了许多专业知识和为人的道理，能够在今后的生活道路上有继续奋斗的力量。另外，我还要感谢大学四年和我一起走过的同学朋友对我的关心与支持，与他们一起学习、生活，让我在大学期间生活的很充实，给我留下了很多难忘的回忆。最后，我要感谢我的父母对我的关系和理解，如果没有他们在我的学习生涯中的无私奉献和默默支持，我将无法顺利完成今天的学业。四年的大学生活就快走入尾声，我们的校园生活就要划上句号，心中是无尽的难舍与眷恋。从这里走出，对我的人生来说，将是踏上一个新的征程，要把所学的知识应用到实际工作中去。回首四年，取得了些许成绩，生活中有快乐也有艰辛。感谢老师四年来对我孜孜不倦的教诲，对我成长的关心和爱护。学友情深，情同兄妹。四年的风风雨雨，我们一同走过，充满着关爱，给我留下了值得珍藏的最美好的记忆。在我的十几年求学历程里，离不开父母的鼓励和支持，是他们辛勤的劳作，无私的付出，为我创造良好的学习条件，我才能顺利完成完成学业，感激他们一直以来对我的抚养与培育。最后，我要特别感谢我的导师赵达睿老师、和研究生助教熊伟丽老师。是他们在我毕业的最后关头给了我们巨大的帮助与鼓励，给了我很多解决问题的思路，在此表示衷心的感激。老师们认真负责的工作态度，严谨的治学精神和深厚的理论水平都使我收益匪浅。他无论在理论上还是在实践中，都给与我很大的帮助，使我得到不少的提高这对于我以后的工作和学习都有一种巨大的帮助，感谢他耐心的辅导。在论文的撰写过程中老师们给予我很大的帮助，帮助解决了不少的难点，使得论文能够及时完成，这里一并表示真诚的感谢。83