| As an encyclopedic book of science and technology in ancient China,Tiangong Kaiwu systematically and comprehensively records technological achievements in the two major fields of agriculture and handicrafts in ancient China.Its prominent historical date and application values of science and technology are of great significance for related research on the history of science and technology in China and even in the world.Its two English translations respectively translated by Chinese American Professors E-tu Zen Sun and her husband Shiou-chuan Sun,and contemporary foreign language scholars Wang Yijing,Wang Haiyan,and Liu Yingchun have aroused extensive attention and praise in academia.However,the current research achievements on English translation studies are small in scale and limited in number.Its value of translation history in China and the world has not yet been fully explored.The two English translations of Tiangong Kaiwu mentioned above T’ien-kung K’ai-wu: Chinese Technology in the Seventeenth Century(1997)and Tian Gong Kai Wu(2011)are taken as the research objects.This thesis takes Lasswell?s 5W communication model and Toury?s translation norms as the theoretical analysis tool and aims to make an in-depth analysis of the English translations with descriptive and comparative methods.Firstly,this thesis analyzes the source text and English translations.Secondly,it explores the decision-making elements of the translators in the process of translation and communication from Lasswell?s 5W communication model,focuses on the translation,dissemination,and reception of the English translations in the English-speaking world,and clarifies the core elements that affect the spread of English translations.Secondly,based on Toury?s translation norms,this study makes a comparative analysis of characteristics of English translations from the three levels of preliminary norms,initial norms and operational norms,and further examines the translation strategies and thoughts of the translator group.This research suggests that:(1)translators act as communicators who need to have the solid bilingual ability and scientific and technological knowledge background.In terms of content,it is obvious that there is a phenomenon of thick translation in Ren and Sun?s translation.Both translations are limited to a single communication channel with books.The main audience of Ren and Sun?s translation is professional scholars and the Library of Chinese Classics version is mainly for professionals and general readers interested in specific topics.The number of overseas reviews and world library collection is relatively large.In contrast,the dissemination effect of the Library of Chinese Classics version needs to be improved;(2)social and cultural factors and two translators? academic interests have an impact on the selection of the source text,showing the overall strategic orientation of translation under the preliminary norms.From the perspective of initial norms,Ren and Sun?s version uses a large number of paratextual elements including notes,glossary,appendix,and index,which follow the norms of the source language and culture.So it is inclined to the adequate translation.The Library of Chinese Classics version is oriented towards target readers and reproduces the concise language style and characteristics of the source text as an informative text.The target culture is the focus of the Library of Chinese Classics version,showing the acceptable inclination.Under the micro operational norms,the two English translations mainly employ literal translation and transliteration to render technical terms.For the translation of culture-loaded words,the translation strategy of literal plus annotation is mainly applied,coupled with literal translation and free translation that complement each other in Ren and Sun?s translation,which aims to reproduce the cultural connotation of words.At the syntactic level,Ren and Sun?s translation is faithful to the original objective and condensed language style;the focus of the Library of Chinese Classics translation flexibly adopts decoloring and pays attention to the fluency and readability of translation.The research conclusions are:(1)the full display of the linguistic and cultural characteristics of the source text and the good translation effect of the English versions are two major factors influencing the translators? decision-making process;(2)the two English translations follow different translation norms in different backgrounds.Ren and Sun?s translation is faithful to the original style and characteristics,while the Library of Chinese Classics translation emphasizes the communicative function of language. |
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