A Chinese-English Translation Report Of “Going To Shunning For Antiphonal Singing ”-On The Horse-driving Ditties

This thesis is a translation report which contains a translation part and a translation report. The original text “ Going to Shunning for Antiphonal Singing ” — On the Horse-driving Ditties is selected from the Chapter Five of the Culture of Horse Caravan written by Wan Mingda and Zhang Xilu, which was initially published by Yunnan People’s Press in 1993 and republished in 2008. It is an academic treatise which highlights the authors’ views since this book is a kind of seminal study on horse caravan and most information of this book is first-hand material. The original text mainly discusses the horse-driving ditties, which also mirrors the material and spiritual civilization generated from the horse driving.Most of the foreign friends perhaps have heard of the horse caravan or the ancient tea-horse road in Yunnan, but few of them could be familiar with the specific culture of horse caravan, especially the folk songs created by the horse drivers. Even if they have listened to the folk songs of Chinese version, they still couldn’t get its genuine meaning and connotation. So, the original text selected to be translated will help foreign friends to experience the culture of horse caravan better, and then promote the culture communication.This translation project has been carried out under the guideline of the Creative Treason Theory by Robert Escarpit. Since “the translator is necessary evil” who should be allowed to bring his initiative into full play and do some creation(rewriting) based on the main “spirit” of the original text to render the original text and prolong its life span. So, the treason of translation is inevitable to make the version conform to the conventional expression of target language. And the translation strategies adopted for this project under the guideline of this theory is flexible, which would be discussed in the report with examples and explanations.