A Report On The Translation Of Darkness To Light:A Memoir(Excerpts)

This report is based on the E-C translation of Darkness to Light: A Memoir(Excerpts).It is a biography written by former NBA player Lamar Odom and sportswriter Chris Palmer.The original text describes the author,Lamar’s ups and downs since his childhood,and details his depraved midlife behind the fame and success.The author hopes that,through his “roller-coaster” life experience,readers can be educated and stay positive when encountering difficulties and adversities.As is known,biographical text boasts documentary and literary features.On the one hand,the source text is based on the depiction of real events and people;on the other hand,it also includes many rhetorical devices to add more literary grace.In general,the expression of the source text is informal and colloquial;the sentence structure is flexible with idioms and slangs and rhetorical devices;cohesive devices are highly used in the source text for the purpose of cohesion and coherence.Furthermore,quotation is also applied in the source text.According to the analysis of the source text,the translator adopts Communicative Translation Theory to guide this translation practice.Communicative translation is target readers centered with the consideration of receptor language,culture and target readers’ reading habits.It attempts to produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original,so the translation tends to be natural,smooth,and acceptable to target readers.Guided by Communicative Translation Theory,the translator adopts different translation methods including amplification,explanation,free translation,division,inversion,omission and domestication to deal with translation difficulties at lexical,syntactic and discourse levels.This E-C translation report consists of four chapters: task description,process description,case study and conclusion.Chapter one introduces background,objectives,significance of the translation task and structure of the translation report.Chapter two is about the text analysis,the contents,language features and difficulties of the source text,and the introduction to Communicative Translation Theory.Chapter three explores the application of Communicative Translation Theory in the translation at lexical,syntactic and discourse levels.Chapter four ends up with major findings and limitations from the translation practice.