On Foreignization In Chinese-english Guide Interpreting

With the rapid development of China’s tourism industry, a growing number of western tourists pour into China. They are eager to appreciate the beautiful scenery of China and experience its unique culture. Needless to say, guide interpreters have a very important role to play when they facilitate tourist-host communication and interaction. As one form of interpreting, guide interpreting shares many similarities with other forms of interpreting but it also possesses its own distinctive features. The most obvious feature lies in cultural elements contained in the process of guide interpreting. The cultural elements are reflected in both the introduction and presentation of a certain scenic spot and the whole social and natural environment. The very purpose of traveling is to experience the differences of other place and expand horizon. Therefore the guide interpreters should share both the information of tourist attractions and the culture elements in the process of traveling so as to strengthen the western tourist’s understanding about Chinese culture and promote the essence of Chinese culture. What kind of translation strategy should guide interpreters adopt to fulfill this mission? There are two translation strategies:domestication and foreignization. These two translation strategies have been discussed for many years. However, they are hardly discussed in the field of interpreting, let alone in the field of guide interpreting. Therefore this thesis tries to discuss these two translation strategies in the field of guide interpreting and prove that foreignization strategy is a better choice in the setting of guide interpreting, which is beneficial to the maintenance of related Chinese culture.The thesis begins by introducing the definition of interpreting and the distinctive features of guide interpreting as one form of interpreting. The detailed analysis about the two translation strategies and their merits and shortcomings are given after it. The thesis proposes that in the setting of guide interpreting, the strategy of foreignization should be recommended. The reasons for adopting foreignization are also explored at the same time. On the one hand the strategy of foreignization is much more beneficial to the promotion of Chinese culture in the setting of guide interpreting, on the other hand the theory of source-language effect can also demonstrate the feasibility of adopting foreignization strategy. A large amount of examples selected from guide interpreting practice are given at the last part to explore the adopting of foreignization strategy in Chinese-English guide interpreting.The thesis focuses on the application of the strategy of foreignization in the setting of guide interpreting. The selected examples are widely representative and reflect the trend of the time. The author hopes that the thesis could be helpful to the work of guide interpreters in providing better service to the western tourists and promoting Chinese culture.