A Study On Strategies For Translating Chinese Tourist Publicity Materials Into English

As the mass media, tourist publicity materials (hereinafter abbreviated as TPM) play an indispensable role in accelerating the development of China's tourism, but the current status of TPM translation from Chinese into English is far from satisfactory. Due to a large number of translation errors, English versions of Chinese TPM cannot acquire the anticipated publicizing effect. For this reason, the thesis attempts to make a systemic study on strategies for translating Chinese TPM into English, and the thesis hopes that it will contribute to the improvement of the quality of TPM translations and the development of China's tourism.The thesis is composed of five chapters.Chapter one is a brief introduction to the present development of China's tourism as well as the purpose and significance of the study.Chapter two presents an introduction to the relevant information concerning TPM and further analyzes the factors that influence TPM translation from Chinese into English. This chapter starts with the definition, classification, functions as well as the language features of TPM, and then an analysis of the problems existing in TPM translation is carried out with examples. After the analysis, the thesis reveals that the deep-rooted cause of translation errors lies in the striking cultural difference between China and the West. So, as translators, they are required to have both linguistic competence and cross-cultural awareness at the same time.Chapter three expounds the theoretical basis of the study. The thesis adopts Skopos theory, text typology and functional equivalence as the theoretical framework to carry out the study on strategies for translating Chinese TPM into English. At the end of the chapter, the enlightenment of the theories on TPM translation is clarified.Chapter four is the main part of the thesis. Through applying the translation theories to practice, the chapter makes a systemic study on TPM translation and proposes some specific strategies for translating Chinese TPM into English. In order to attain the purpose of disseminating Chinese culture and attracting foreign tourists, also realize the informative and vocative functions of English translations, TPM translation should be performed under the principles of Chinese culture-orientation and target readers-orientation. Anyway, translation difficulties caused by Chinese traditional culture are reflected on the translation of cultural information, so for translating cultural information, the adopted strategies are transliteration plus a note, amplification, analogy and rewriting. However, the differences of writing style and language conventions stemming from different aesthetics and thinking modes between China and the West, and the linguistic difference between Chinese and English lead to difficulties in TPM translation as well. So, for dealing with problems caused by language conventions, the suggested strategies are omission, paraphrase, adjustment and adaptation.Chapter five is the conclusion. It gives a summary of the whole thesis.