A Report On The Chinese Translation Of English Songs

Cultural exchange enhances friendship and mutual understanding among people from all around the world. As a means of cultural exchange, songs play an important role in exchanging ideas. There is no doubt that translators are faced with a series of challenges because of the particularity of song translation and the difference between Chinese and English language.Chinese translation of English songs, which involves many fields including translation, culture, literature and music, is a unique art form. The specificity of Chinese translation of English songs decides that it is different from translation of other genres. Compared with translation of other genres, the translations of songs require that the translated text should be easy to understand, conform to the original style and have linguistic attraction. Above all, the translated texts can be sung by singers and can be accepted by the audiences. All of these put forward higher requirements for the translator’s professional skills and musical knowledge and culture. It also requires that the translators should be equipped with cross cultural competence as well as bilingual competence.In this report, the present author is going to explore Chinese translation of English songs and translation strategies in detail based on the translation practice of the song—"Someone Like You". In chapter one, the present author introduces the Chinese translation of English songs, including the history and classification of Chinese translation of English songs, necessity and the importance of Chinese translation of English songs, the translatability of songs from English to Chinese, the problems in translating the English songs into Chinese, the previous research on Chinese translation of English songs. In chapter two, the present author describes the translation task of English song at length and introduces the translation process of English song from the perspective of reception aesthetics theory. In chapter three, the present author is going to explore Chinese translation of English songs and translation strategies in detail from the aspects of grammatical features, literariness, musical character by analyzing three different versions of "Someone Like You" which includes the version of Yuefu style, classical Chinese and the version of present author. In chapter four, the present author points out restrictions in the process of translating English songs and puts forward that the subject can be omitted in the translated text to encourage the audience’s imagination.The present author looks forwards to providing practical guidance for the translators who want to engage in translating English songs.