A Report On The Translation Of Records Of Streets And Alleys In Chengdu(Excerpt)from The Perspective Of Communicative Translation Theory

At present,relying on its profound historical and cultural foundation,Chengdu is making great efforts to build a world’s celebrated city of culture and creativity as well as promote Bashu culture.Records of Streets and Alleys in Chengdu is a masterwork about the unique culture of Chengdu written by a noted scholar of Bashu culture,Mr.Yuan Tingdong.Translating and studying the book not only enables the translator to acquire an in-depth comprehension of the historical process and cultural connotations of Chengdu,but also helps improve her own professional competence while providing some references for Bashu culture’s protection and development.Peter Newmark’s greatest contribution to translation theory is the emphasis on the differences between communicative translation and semantic translation as well as the accurate interpretation of nature and applicability of the two kinds of translation.He puts forward Text Typology,which categorizes text into three types: expressive text,informative text and vocative text.As for the expressive text,it is feasible to adopt the Semantic Translation Theory;while Communicative Translation Theory is suitable for the translation of both informative text and vocative text.According to the classification,Records of Streets and Alleys in Chengdu is an informative text,which aims to convey the author’s message to the target reader.In addition,as the original carrying the purpose of inheriting and promoting Bashu culture,it also manifests certain characteristics of the vocative text.Therefore,the translator employs the Communicative Translation Theory to guide the practice.In line with the different features of the source text,the translator flexibly applies specific translation techniques such as paraphrase,addition,omission,division,combination and shift.On the premise of the respect for information in the original text,the translator pays close attention to the reading experience of the target reader in order to produce the qualified translated text complying with the Communicative Translation Theory and to achieve the goal of communication.