On Improvement Of Translation Coherence With Thematic Progression

"Thematic progression" refers to "the selection and order of discourse theme, theme relationships and hierarchy, as well as their relationships with the super themes of superior text in an entire text and overall context, namely, the ’rules of organization’". Thematic progression can be divided into four types:thematic-same type, rheme-same type, continuation type and cross type. The consistency between statements can be promoted by analyzing the relationship between the source text and the translation text with thematic progression, thereby ensuring the coherence of the whole paragraphs or the entire translation text.This thesis applies thematic progression theory to the translation of historical documentation. Using examples selected from the translation project reflecting the early Exchanges and Cooperation between the University of Nanking and Cornell University in which the author participated, the author attempts to expound on the applicability of the four types of thematic progression (thematic-same type, rheme-same type, continuation type and cross type) in historical documentation translation and its role in improving the translation coherence.