Translation Report On The Oxford Handbook Of Oral History(introduction & Chapter 1)

The Oxford Handbook of Oral History, well-edited by the celebrated oral historian Donald A. Ritchie, was published by the Oxford University Press in 2011. It is a great English-edition oral history entry-level works co-authored by more than 40 famous oral historians and scholars across the world. This popular and easy-to-understand Handbook is full of interest, putting precise oral historical methodologies into various proven and classic oral history cases. The translation of this Handbook not only helps the Chinese readers to learn the past, current situation and prospects of the oral history, but also actively promotes the development of the oral history domestically.The Introduction and the Chapter 1 of this Handbook is a summary of the development process and methodology of the oral history, consisting of the evolution of the tools adopted in the oral history interview, the driving force on oral history derived from the development of science and technology, the difference between the oral history and news interview, various factors affecting the dynamics of oral history interviewing, the practical and historical significance of oral history. There are also lots of specific oral history terms, names of specific organizations and key works across the whole book. Many paragraphs are full of intricate logicality with complex sentences. All the aforementioned elements make the translation itself full of difficulty.As a popular science manual, the target text should be faithful, expressive, clear and easy to understand for its readers. Therefore, the Skopostheories put forward by German Functionalist School is taken as the guide during the translation process. That is, translation is a kind of cultural comparison and cross-cultural communication activity in certain cultural context, regardless of the argument between literal translation and free translation. The choice of translation strategies and methods depends on its final communication purpose. As a result, it promotes the active participation of translator, expands the possibility of translation, and provides more choices of translation strategies.