An English-Chinese Translation Report On Adversarial Legalism

Currently, translations of different kinds of legal texts are developing rapidly.However, in the field of legal translation in China, there exist some problems. Translatorsput much emphasis on the translations of legal provisions but neglect legal works thatdiscuss social and historical issues. Adversarial Legalism, a western legal academic workwritten by Robert A. Kagan(2003), which is of theoretical value and rich in ideology. Andthe study concerning adversarial legalism is relatively rare. This thesis is a translationreport of Adversarial Legalism. It mainly introduces the origin and development ofadversarial legalism. By comparing with legal systems of other democratic countries,Kagan discusses the advantages and disadvantages of adversarial legalism and finds thatadversarial legalism has more disadvantages than advantages, and then tries to findfeasible methods to replace it. The study on Adversarial Legalism can benefit both thefield of law and translation at home. This report is intended to help readers to know moreabout the origin and development of adversarial legalism, providing materials foracademic research and readings for readers to enhance their legal knowledge.The author translates the Preface and Chapter One of Adversarial Legalism andwrites this translation report. Through this translation practice, it is found that the fuzzyand precise words in Adversarial Legalism are difficulties in the process of translation.Therefore, after reading some relevant theoretical books and parallel texts, the author usesspecific translation strategies including literal translation, addition, deletion, classificationto achieve functional equivalence. In this report the author also provides case analysis, showing the application of those translation strategies. Through this study, not only helpreaders know more about western legal thoughts and contents, but also promotes theauthor’s translation skills.