A Report On The E-C Translation Of The Water Dancer(Excerpts) Under The Guidance Of Eco-Translatology

This translation report selects excerpts from the science fiction The Water Dancer(Chapters six to seven),the first novel of African-American writer Ta-Nehisi Coates,as the translation material and research object.Under the guidance of Eco-translatology,based on the principle of "three-dimensional transformations",this report summarizes the translation problems,key points and difficulties encountered in the process of translation,and explores translation strategies and methods used in the linguistic dimension,cultural dimension and communicative dimension.The Water Dancer is a science fiction about slavery,mainly telling the story of journey where fantasy collides with reality,when Hiram wants to escape from the Lockless.The use of black English in the source text has brought certain challenges to the translator in terms of language form and content understanding.As an interdisciplinary translation theory,an operable translation method is proposed under Eco-translatology which includes translatology and ecology,namely "three-dimensional transformations".Under the principle of "adaptive selection",the translator studies and analyzes the source text from the linguistic dimensional transformation,cultural dimensional transformation and communicative dimensional transformation to make a selection of translation strategies and methods.The translator mainly adopts translation in reverse order and shift of voice to adjust the structure of the long sentences and passive sentences so as to conform to the Chinese expression habits.Extended translation method and free translation method are used to analyze the culture-loaded words and colloquial expressions to conform to the reading habits and thinking of the target readers.In communicative dimension,free translation is mainly used in the translation of tone and intonation,and the prominence of communicative intention in the source text.From the specific aspects of language structures,cultural factors and delivery of communicative intention to analyze the source text can reduce language and cultural differences and bring a better reading experience for domestic readers.The report includes five parts.Chapter One introduces the translation project,and the research purpose and significance.Chapter Two describes the process of the project that includes pre-translation,while-translation and post-translation.Chapter Three explains the origin,development and main contents of Eco-translatology.Chapter Four provides case analysis to demonstrate the application of three-dimensional transformations under Eco-translatology to translation practice,aiming at exploring the translation methods and strategies used in different dimensions,and explaining how the theory guides the translation practice.Chapter Five is conclusion of the report.