C-E Translation Of Investment-inviting Websites From The Perspective Of Functionalism

In the speeding course of economic globalization, China has paid much attention to attracting foreign investment in further promoting its economy. In the current society where network acts as an indispensible communication medium in people’s lives, it is quite necessary to build proper IIWs (Investment-Inviting Websites) to provide investment information to attract foreign investment. Through the case study of the C-E translation of IIWs of four coastal Chinese cities (Nanning Investment1, Invest in Ningbo2, Invest in Qingdao3, Zhuhai Investment Promotion Bureau4), the author intends to examine the existent C-E translation of Chinese investment websites and propose translation strategies and translation techniques to improve the translation of IIWs, and hence making contributions to business promotion in China.Functionalism consists of a series of translation theories proposed by German translators. The thesis mainly conducts the research from the perspective of Skopostheorie initiated by Hans Vermeer and Text Typology proposed by Katharine Reiss. Their views formed theoretical foundation for the thesis. Though innumerable scholars have conducted researches on functionalism and its application on pragmatic translation, very few of them have worked on the translation of investment-inviting text. Thus in this thesis, the author attempts to utilize old functionalism in the instruction of a rarely studied texts---IITs (investment-inviting texts) from IIWs (investment-inviting websites).The thesis contains the following contents:first, it offers an overview of IIWs through the analysis of four representative IIWs. The major contents of such websites are:city briefing, investment environment, investment policies and investment projects. In the next chapter the author will list the common errors and problems existing in the translation of these texts. Next is the introduction of German functionalism, the theoretical foundation of the research. Skopostheorie and text typology will be introduced to guide the C-E translation of IIWs. The following part sheds light on the integration of functional theory and the IIWs translation practice---text analysis of IIWs in light of skopostheorie and text typology. The next part proposes principles and techniques concerning IIW translation. The last part is the conclusion of the whole thesis, in which limitations and further suggestions will be pointed out.Major findings from the thesis are:according to skopostheorie, the skopos/purpose of IIWs is to attract potential foreign investors. Thus the translation should serve target readers’ needs and demands. According to text typology, IITs can mainly be sorted into two types of texts: informative texts and operative/vocative texts. Different types of texts should be treated differently with emphasize laid on their information focal points. Furthermore, the thesis brought forth specific translation approaches concerning the translation of IIWs---literal translation, literal translation plus annotation, free translation, omission and adaptation. Through the discoveries in the research, the author hopes to go deeper into the field of pragmatic translation and make contributions to the future translation of IIWs.