Translation Variations In Foreign Publicity

The theory of translation variations is put forward as a theory relative to that of full translation. It has aroused unexpected controversies in the translation circles, yet an increasing number of scholars have taken it as an object for study. However, even the scholar who advanced the theory might have not yet researched into translation variations in foreign publicity to which the said theory is perhaps most practically applicable, not to mention a systematic study of it. The paper, therefore, attempts to fill in the gap. It is presented in three parts. Part I first defines publicity materials as a particular type of texts for translation, and discusses its main characteristics and requirements. It then moves on to point out existing problems in present translations for foreign publicity and their causes. With a brief introduction to translation variations, Part II theoretically justifies translation variations in foreign publicity from the perspectives of both translation theories and the theory of communications. Some controversial issues are also discussed in relation to translation variations, namely, translation standard, translation unit, the license of the translator, and translation and rewriting. Part III probes into the actual translation of texts for foreign publicity. It offers a general model of the translating process: analysis, information-and-structure processing, and presentation. A case study is followed to apply the model. Meanwhile, some related aspects are addressed: techniques and means of translation variations, and the need for "quality control". The paper concludes that translation variations, as a complement to full translation, have some noteworthy advantages, and will play an increasingly important role in foreign publicity.