On C-E Translation Of Government Work Report On Basis Of Functionalist Translation Theory

Translation of Chinese Government work report (GWR) not only introduces China toforeign countries in order to promote mutual communication in political, economic, andcultural respects, but also helps present a good image of China in the internationalcommunity. Consequently, the importance of its translation is self-evident.Great progress has been made on the translation of GWR by many scholars. However,most studies haven’t fully considered the skopos and functions of the target text. Germanfunctionalist translation theory breaks the yoke of all-time translation theory of“equivalence”. It advocates the realization of the skopos and functions of the target text. Thethesis will survey the translation of GWR and explore translation principles and strategiesfrom the perspective of German functionalist translation theory. According to Germanfunctionalist translation theory, translation is an action with certain purpose (skopos).Different purpose and intended functions of the target text require different translationstrategies. That is to say, skopos and functions of the target text are the decisive factors whenchoosing translation strategies. The thesis reviews the major concepts of functionalisttranslation theory, including Reiss’s text typology, Manttari’s translation action theory,Vermmer’s skopostheorie, and Nord’s function plus loyalty. Then the thesis analyzes thecontent, language style, and rhetoric of GWR and points out the linguistic and culturalfactors as well as the translator’s personal factors affecting the translation of GWR. Based onthe above analysis, criteria for the translation of GWR have been discussed. Then furtherresearches are made on the text type, functions, and translation brief of GWR in terms offunctionalist translation theory. At last, the thesis puts forward three translation principles(Skopos principle, Loyalty principle, and Coherence principle), under the guidance of whichthe thesis provides specific translation strategies of GWR.Based on the analysis, the thesis concludes that:1) functionalist translation theory holdsthat translators should adopt translation strategies flexibly to realize the skopos and intended functions of the target text;2) the translation strategies of GWR can offer practical guidancefor C-E translation of the same text type as GWR.