On The C-E Translation Of Public Signs In The Expo2010Shanghai China

Public signs are set up to give people information, instructions, and warnings on the material of paper, wood, or metal with words or pictures. Being practical and vital to human being’s everyday life, public signs are widely used in public places and their applications symbolize civilization of a city, especially the cosmopolitan city. As English is the most widely used language in the world, a great number of public signs in China are written both in English and Chinese, to cater for international needs. With the accelerating process of internationalization, the translation of public signs is increasingly becoming an important project.The successful exhibition of the Expo2010Shanghai in China has greatly improved China’s image in the global arena, and strengthened the external propaganda work by receiving more than70million visitors around the world, giving a good impression to foreign visitors. However, problems are inevitable during the process of C-E translation of public signs. Three of the most evident problems are illustrated:linguistic errors, misunderstanding of cultural differences and imperfect communicative effects. These problems will consequently hinder the progress of foreigners’traveling, or even mislead them, bringing about great inconvenience for them. Therefore, the study of C-E public sign translation in the Expo2010Shanghai is of practical values as few scholars have studied the subject and also is significant for guiding public sign translation in other international fairs in China."Better City, Better Life", the theme of the Expo2010Shanghai, mirrors that the subject of humanity and ecology has increasingly played a predominant role in the modern society. Similarly, the study of translation is increasingly putting the emphasis on ecology and the theory "Eco-translatology" comes out in a rapidly developing progress.Eco-translatology, proposed by Professor Hu Gengshen, states that the practice of translation is a dynamic process of adaptation and selection, during which translators should continuously adapt to the translational eco-environment in linguistic, cultural and communicative dimensions and finally select the best translation that caters for components in these three dimensions.The thesis intends to explore the translation of public signs in Expo2010Shanghai from the perspective of Eco-translatology. It is studied that there is a certain degree of similarities between ecology and translation and the Expo2010also bears the concept of "Ecology". After introducing public signs and core concepts of Eco-translatology, the author explains the effectiveness of Eco-translatology to translation and to the C-E translation of public signs in the Expo2010. Finally, C-E translation methods of public signs in the Expo2010are studied in light of the Eco-translatology.Based on all of these previous studies, conclusion is drawn that during C-E translation of public signs, translators should adapt to the translational eco-environment, in which they need to acquire linguistic characteristics of public signs and have a clear conception of cultural differences between China and the Western countries, in order to perfectly meet communicative objectives. The application of Eco-translatology provides a new thinking and broader space for the translation of public signs.