E-C Translation Of The Third Chapter From Race,Law And American Society:1607-Present And A Critioal Commentary

This project is an E-C translation with a critical commentary. With the progress of the US-China exchanges and cooperation, Chinese people have known much about the American history. Many Chinese people, for example, know something about the Civil Rights Movement but they know less about the history of African Americans fighting for equal property rights, which is an indispensable part of their struggle for equal rights on the whole. It is thus of some practical and academic significance to translate the documents concerned into Chinese. Hence this translation project in which the Chapter Three "Property Rights and Ownership" of Race, Law, and American Society:1607to Present is translated from English into Chinese. Moreover, a critical commentary is made on the translation practice. It is hoped that these efforts will contribute to the E-C translation activities and will also enrich the studies on African Americans’ fight for equal property rights. The book Race, Law, and American Society:1607to Present, written by Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, traces the history of racial discrimination in American law from colonial times to the present, analyzing the key court cases and showing their impact on American society. In Chapter Three, the process and the influence of African Americans’ struggle for equal property rights and ownership are described with the court cases based on race.The translation practice of this project involves multi-strategies. In the Critical Commentary Section, typical examples are analyzed considering the translation of words and phrases, sentences, and paragraphs. Firstly, the approaches of word-meaning extension, turning phrases into clauses, and literal translation with footnote are applied. Secondly, based on the features of English and Chinese, some sentences are rendered by following the original order, long sentences are cut into short clauses, and other sentences are rearranged on structure. In dealing with the paragraphs, discourse in both structural and functional senses is fully considered. It is discussed in the unit of paragraph from the perspective of context.As is held in this project, translation is a comprehensive process in which varied strategies and approaches must be applied so as to achieve the effect described in Alexander Fraser Tytler’s three principles of translation. That is to completely transmit the idea of original work, to maintain the original style and manner, and to have the ease of composition.