A Report On C-E Translation Of The History Of Lingnan Modern Culture Exchanges(Excerpt)-From The Perspective Of Thick Translation

This report presents an analysis of the C-E translation of Chapter 8 of The History of Lingnan Modern Culture Exchanges.The chapter explores overseas Chinese and the dissemination of the Lingnan culture in foreign countries,relying heavily on historical materials to describe the major events in Lingnan’s foreign cultural exchanges.As a result,the source text contains numerous cultural expressions that pose challenges for translation.As a historical text,it embodies the commercialism,compatibility,hedonism,and openness of Lingnan culture at the cultural level.It contains a large number of culture-loaded words,culture-related terms,and references to verses,canonical texts,and newspapers.Therefore,the translation of the source text relies heavily on the historical and cultural background,requiring supplementation of concepts not found in the target readers’ language.According to the characteristics of the source text,this translation report is under the guidance of thick translation theory and the practice.The report summarizes the translation principles suitable for this practice and is divided into five parts.The first part provides an overview of the background,significance,and translation process.The second part analyzes the characteristics of the source text from the perspective of culture and genre.The third part introduces the concept,translation strategy,and feasibility of thick translation,dividing its manifestations into implicit and explicit translation.In the fourth part,different types of cultural concepts in the source text are studied and analyzed in terms of translation strategies from the perspectives of implicit and explicit translation.Finally,the fifth part summarizes the major findings and limitations in translation practice.Based on the guidance of thick translation theory and the analysis of case studies,the translator concludes that thick translation is applicable to academic works with rich cultural information.The report also describes two ways of expressing thick translation:explicit and implicit translation.Explicit translations involve the use of footnotes and endnotes,which are suitable for texts requiring rich additions such as folklore-related cultural concepts,book titles,and place names.Implicit translations involve the use of bracketed-notes and in-text notes,which are suitable for texts where contextual information can be subtly integrated into the text,such as poems and names of social organizations.