English Translation Of Chinese Scenic-Spot Introductions: Problems And Possible Solutions

The continuance of China's in-depth reform and opening-up policy has stimulated the rapid growth of its tourist industry. After entering WTO and the country's successful bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games, China will be visited by more and more foreign tourists in the years to come. English tourist materials have become an effective way to publicize China and promote China's tourist industry. Tourist materials extend a large scope, including various materials which introduce China's tourist industry and tourism resources, with average tourists as readers, such as scenic-spot introductions, tourist advertisements, notices and public signs in scenic spots, tour schedules and couplets hung on the columns of the tourist attractions, etc. Scenic-spot introductions, as one of the most important types of tourist materials, form the hard nut for translation. Problems of various kinds are still prevalent in formal and informal publications these days and the quality of translations leaves much to be desired. The present thesis studies the English translation of Chinese scenic-spot introductions, including its current problems and possible solutions.The present thesis is an attempt to give an in-depth analysis of the existing problems, which will be analyzed from linguistic errors and culture-related errors respectively. On the basis of the analysis, tentative solutions, based on the two essential notions of Nida's functional equivalence theory, are suggested. The present author hopes that the translation quality of scenic-spot introductions can be improved, and more researches in this specialized field will be made in the future by translators in our country.The present thesis is composed of four chapters.Chapter one reviews the literature related to the present study home and abroad.Chapter two advances the theoretical basis, in which the development of equivalence theory is introduced. Among them Nida's functional equivalence theory is given special attention. The two essential notions of his theory and functional equivalence principles in receptor-oriented Chinese-English translation are expounded.Chapter three analyzes the existing problems in the English translation of Chinese scenic-spot introductions from the perspectives of linguistic errors and culture-related errors.Chapter four tackles these problems by applying Nida's functional equivalence theory. Translation techniques based on the notions of equivalence and receptors'response are suggested to solve these problems.In the concluding part, the present author generalizes the major findings and the limitations of the present thesis with suggestions for future research.