A Study On C-E Translation Of Notary Documents In The Functionalist Approach

Foreign-related notary certificates are documents issued by Notary Public Offices to certify certain legal activities and facts which happen in China. These certificates are usually submitted to foreign organizations. They cover lots of aspects and have special legal validity. With the deepening of reform and opening-up policy, especially after China's entry into WTO, there have been much more communication between China and other countries. According to international practice, Chinese citizen should transact relevant notary certificates from the notary public office (Ye Gang, Xuechen Wang, 1995:1) if they visit their relatives, settle down, continue further study, inherit property, fulfill labor contracts, or carry out international trades in foreign countries. These certificates certify the identification and some facts of the persons concerned, thus helping them be acknowledged and accepted by the very authority in foreign countries. Most notary certificates are often translated into English for convenience because embassies and organizations abroad usually require the English version.With two years' working experiences in Wenzhou Notary Public Office as a translator, the author find there are lots of C-E translation problems in the aspect of lexis, syntax, and text. Problems like improper translation of legal terms, names and address are quite common. The exactness and preciseness of the English version have a direct effect on Chinese citizens' rights and interests in foreign countries. Having read a lot of materials, I'd like to go into the C-E translation of the foreign-related certificates from the perspective of German functionalist translation theory. Representatives of German functionalist translation theory are Katharina Reiss, Hans Vermeer, Justa Holz Mantarri and Christiane Nord. They put forward and developed this theory. The Skopos rule, coherence rule, fidelity rule, and the later loyalty principle arouse great attention from the translation circle. If we use this theory in the translation of notary certificates, it will greatly help the translators solve lots of tiresome problems and serve as good theory guidance. On the basis of this theory, the author put forward many principles for translators as guidance.