A Report On The Translation Of Catherine: A Story(Chapter2-4)

This paper is a description and analysis of the translation of William MakepeaceThackeray’s novel Catherine: A Story (chapter2-4), translation item provided by ForeignLanguage Teaching and Research Press.Catherine was originally published in1839-40for Fraser’s Magazine. The author tookhis heroine a woman who was burnt for the revolting murder of her husband, and endeavoredto tell the story of her career and that of her associates so as to show the folly of investingsuch characters with romantic interest.The report is composed of five parts: introduction, textual analysis, translation process,thoughts gained from this translation experience and conclusion.In the “Introduction” part, creation background, main content and source of thistranslation item are introduced. In the “Textual Analysis” part, translation preparation andconcerns are briefly summarized through the analysis of the narrative perspective, charactersand style of the novel.“Translation Process” serves as the main body of this paper.Translation problems resulting from the translation of long complex sentences, the translationof some words and expressions as well as the translation of rhetoric devices are discussed indetail, supplemented by typical examples. The “Thoughts Gained from this TranslationExperience” part points out that the process of translation is a process of learning andexamination, wherein profound mastery of the source language and flexible application of thetarget language are of crucial significance. Lastly, in the “Conclusion” part, a summary ismade for this translation task and requirements for translators are also discussed briefly.