A Report On The C-E Translation Of Telling Stories From Chinese Classics Series:Mencius From The Perspective Of Reiss’ Text Typology Theory

This report is based on the Chinese-English translation of twenty-three chapters of Mencius,one of the books that were compiled in modern Chinese and then to be translated in the project of Telling Stories from Chinese Classics Series.This project is aimed at providing educational texts for students in Confucius Institutes overseas.Inspired by Text Typology Theory by Katharina Reiss,the author offers effective translation strategies through case analysis to overcome difficulties encountered in translation.Based on the major functions of texts,Reiss classifies them into three types:informative,expressive and operative,so as to navigate different translation practices.Among the three types of text,informative text emphasizes on spreading information,knowledge and opinions and its language is logical and content-focused.According to Reiss’ Text Typology Theory,as a kind of educational text,the source text,Mencius,can be seen as an informative text.The translation of an informative text should put language accuracy in the first place and express the concepts and information of the source text in plain and clear language.Inspired by Reiss’ Text Typology Theory,the author analyzes typical cases and presents translation strategies from the perspectives of language accuracy,language conciseness and language logic.Translation strategies are concluded from the three dimensions:first,accurate interpretation of the original message,which is explained from handling cultural-loaded elements and deciphering context;second,concise representation of the source text,which is elaborated from integrating key information and flexibly using literal translation and free translation;third,logical coherence of the content,which is discussed from restructuring sentences and externalizing logical links.Among the three dimensions,language accuracy is the priority throughout the translation;language conciseness and language logic are two complementary factors which can further enhance language accuracy in translation.The translation strategies proposed by properly considering the three dimensions are problem-oriented and can further achieve the purpose of this translation project,which in turn,proves that Reiss’Text Typology Theory could be effectively used to overcome barriers in relevant translation practices.