Translation Of Tourist Materials In English And Sino-Western Cultural Meaning

With the booming of tourism, translation of tourist materials has developed rapidly in China, but most English version of tourist materials are poorly done. This thesis aims at finding out the main reasons of the poor quality of such kind of translation. The author believes that translators should focus their attention on rendering the cultural message while translating, especially the difference of Sino-Western cultural meaning, so that the translated version may reflect Chinese cultural condition to excite the curiosity of the potential foreign tourists;translation itself can accordingly become the approach and medium of cultural communication. According to the functionalists approaches to translation and Newmark's text typology, the author makes a study of text type and function of tourist materials. This thesis proves theoretically and practically the useful elements and guiding role of Nida's theory. Moreover, it introduces its research method into the discussion of English translation of tourist materials. Based on this, the thesis puts forward some rules and methods in translating such materials into English.The thesis is divided into five parts. The first part introduces the concepts of "culture" and points out that cultural meaning can be showed in five aspects in tourist materials;the second part introduces the conventional translation theory in China and West, furthermore, the text function of tourist materials is drawn from the study of functionalist approaches to translation and Newmark's text typology. The third part makes an analysis of Nida's "dynamic equivalence" and "reader's response" theory and an assessment of his contributions and flaws. And the fourth part is the suggestions of the author. In this part, the author discusses the approaches to translation of tourist materials, including scenic spots and scenic areas, and demonstrates the theoretical value and practical significance of the application of Nida's theory to such materials. The last part is the conclusion.