A Tentative Study On Chinese-english Translation Of Tourist Texts From The Perspective Of Skopostheorie

The prosperity of Chinese tourism and the rapid increase in foreign tourists have raised great demand for tourist text translation. Tourist texts play the crucial role in propagandizing tourism resources, expanding tourism market and attracting more foreign tourists. Although the quality of tourist text translation has been improved incessantly, it is still not satisfactory. Therefore, it is of extraordinarily realistic significance to carry systematic research on this subject.This thesis firstly introduces the definitions and content of tourist text, and then analyzes its text type, functions and translation requirements, and goes on to explore the discrepancies between Chinese and English tourist texts. It indicates that tourist texts are both informative and appellative which involve excessive cultural and historical connotations as well as abundant geographical knowledge. So when translating, the translator is supposed to put special emphasis on the target text and target addressees and attach great importance to the target text's acceptability and target addressees'receptivity.The present thesis studies Chinese-English (hereafter referred to as C-E) translation of tourist texts from the perspective of Skopostheorie. According to this theory, translation is considered as an intercultural and communicational action which has its intended functions and purposes. It is the intended purpose that justifies the translation process and strategies. As a kind of publicity material, tourist text translation aims at providing relevant information for foreign tourists and attracting them to travel to China. Based on this purpose and through analysis of abundant examples, the author argues that tourist text translation is supposed to achieve the appellative function and the communicative purpose rather than simply pursue literal equivalence or equal transmission of information. In the process of translation, the translator should bear in mind the functional features of tourist text along with its translation purposes and adopt flexible strategies instead of rigidly adhering to the form and content of the original text.The conclusion drawn in this thesis is that Skopostheorie has inaugurated a new perspective to the study of tourist text translation and it can serve as a guiding principle for C-E translation of tourist texts. The translator is required to take into account the differences between Chinese and English tourist texts and, with the adoption of proper translation strategies, produce a version capable of achieving the intended functions.