A Comment And Improvement Of The English Versions Of Introductory Texts Of Cultural Relics In Ningxia Museum

Cultural relics reflect the social culture they belong to in various aspects. Chinese civilization is popular and profound, and has a long history. The solid cultural accumulation accounts for its various cultural relics. Visiting museum is the best and easiest way for the foreigners who want to know Chinese culture. Ningxia Museum is a comprehensive historic museum at the national level, and its collections boast distinctive regional and national features. With the introductory text, every cultural relic tells quietly and tirelessly its story and value to the visitors. The introductory texts in Ningxia Museum are written both in Chinese and English, some even in Arabic for a better dissemination of Ningxia’s culture and history. However, English versions of these introductory texts are far from satisfactory for errors to be found in the aspects of vocabulary, grammar and meaning after the author’s on-the-spot investigation, which should be paid more attention and studied by translators. Only by revising those errors and providing qualified translations, can inner value and cultural meaning of each cultural relic be presented better to the foreign visitors so as to realize the "outgoing" of Ningxia’s culture and promote the soft power of Ningxia.With the guidance of Nida’s "functional equivalence", the thesis conducts a systematic study of the English versions of introductory texts of cultural relics in Ningxia Museum. It consists of five parts. The introduction mainly discusses the research background, the originality and significance of the research, objective and the framework of the whole thesis. Chapter two is literature review. After the analysis of materials collected from the periodical CNKI about cultural relics in museums, the author clarifies them into two kinds in order to review the previous studies of introductory texts of cultural relics, and then points out the significance of the thesis. Chapter three lays stress on the present English versions of introductory texts of cultural relics in Ningxia Museum. The introductory text of cultural relics is introduced at the beginning, including its definition, function and characteristics. Then an evaluation of these English versions in Ningxia Museum is conducted. The conclusion summarizes both successes and failures existed in these English versions, among which the later are mainly errors in vocabulary, grammar and meaning. Chapter four is the key part of the thesis. WithNida’s "functional equivalence" as the guide, the author improves the C-E translation of introductory texts in Ningxia Museum. After an introduction to Nida’s "functional equivalence" and its guiding significance in translating the introductory texts of cultural relics, certain translation methods and skills are put forward by revising the wrong English versions of introductory texts of cultural relics in Ningxia Museum. In addition, all the revised English versions of these introductory texts are presented in the appendix, which is of great importance for the whole thesis. The last part is the conclusion. It summarizes the whole thesis and points out suggestions for further improvement and shortcomings contained in the paper.