On Translating Festival Names-From Perspective Of Communicative And Semantic Translation Theory

The thesis aims to carry out a discussion on festival name translation in C-E and E-C translation in the light of communicative translation and semantic translation.Culture is a basic trait and emblem of identity that distinguishes one nation from another. As an original existence, it has its basic features. The festival is a part of culture. It is both a reflection of culture and a symbol of cultural identity. Many elements are involved in the festival culture, including the name, the origin, the way of celebration, the symbol and the person. Meanwhile, the festival is not only playing the role of entertaining people, but also that of helping to educate, communicate and publicize.Peter Newmark put forward the methods of communicative translation and semantic translation. Communicative translation attempts to produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original. Semantic translation attempts to render, as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the second language allow, the exact contextual meaning of the original.Names leave the first impression of festivals. A good name is supposed to embody and transmit the cultural implications of the festival. From a detailed discussion on some translated names of Chinese and western festivals, the authoress draws the conclusion that reader reception plays an important role. In the case of festival name translation, the responses and feelings of the target readers should be taken into much account, so that they will then be able to have a better understanding of the source festival and the source culture it manifests.