A Report On The English-chinese Translation Of The World Of Wal-Mart(Chapter 1-2)

This is a report on the translation of The World of Wal-Mart(Chapter 1-2) written by Nicholas Copeland and Christine Labuski. This translation report takes Functional Equivalence by Eugene Nida as the theoretical guide. An ideal translation should consist of reproducing in the target language the closest and natural equivalent of the source-language message to bring about in the target readers the same or similar response as that of the original readers. Functional Equivalence includes not only lexical equivalence, semantic equivalence, but also cultural and stylistic equivalences. In the translation process, the translator adopts some frequently-adopted techniques including diction, free translation and conversion which aim to improve the quality of the translation text and individual ability to use the translation techniques flexibly and try to combine translation theory and practice. This translation practice proves that functional equivalence has great significance to non-literary translation practice.Through this translation practice, the most impressive finding of the translator is that a preparation in advance is particularly important, including understanding the thought of the authors, their writing characteristics and styles, and an overall understanding of the original text in order to grasp the content and main ideas of the work. By searching relevant background knowledge and consulting a large number of proper names and terminological names, the translator has got a better understanding of Wal-Mart, and even of the whole American economy and society.This report is divided into five parts. Part One is the introduction, including background information, significance of the translation project and structures of the report. Part Two is entitled as task description, which mainly discusses about the source texts, author of the book and the translation process. Part Three gives a brief introduction to the translation theory employed, namely Eugene A. Nida’s Functional Equivalence. Part Four plays a relatively prominent part in the whole translation report. In this part, translation difficulties are discussed and related techniques are given along with sufficient examples. Part Five comes up with theconclusion, in which the writer’s experiences in translating the book and unsolved problems are briefly summarized.