The C-E Translation Of Descriptions Of Cultural Relics In Chinese Museums

Cultural relics are valuable heritages of humankind.Descriptions of cultural relics are important media for visitors to know about the cultural relics exhibited in museums.Many descriptions of cultural relics in Chinese museums have been translated into English to meet non-Chinese speakers' needs.These translations have become an important topic for researchers in the field of Translation Studies.Though many studies have been conducted to address various issues under this topic,a review of those studies reveals a lack of considerations from the perspective of the potential readers of those translations.Issues related to those readers,which have not been found being addressed in existing literature,are what the present study addresses.With Reiss and Vermeer's(1984/1991)concept of translation as a second offer of information as its theoretical support,the present study attempts to answer the following questions:(1)how English translations of descriptions of cultural relics in Chinese museums are different from their comparable texts in the Western world and what may be causes of those differences;(2)how potential readers feel about current English translations of descriptions of cultural relics in Chinese museums and what kinds of translation they actually wish or expect to read.To answer these questions,the present author conducted a comparative case study and a questionnaire survey.In the case study,the author compared the target texts(English translations)(TTs)of the Chinese descriptions of 15 jade artifacts in Nanjing Museum and Shanghai Museum with 16 comparable texts(CTs)in the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York with a view to discovering the differences between the TTs and the CTs.A comparative reading of the TTs and their source texts(Chinese originals)(STs)was also conducted to find out which of the two possible factors—the condition of the STs or the translators—should be held chiefly responsible for those differences and how translators could lead to or accentuate those differences.In the survey,the author posted a questionnaire online to solicit TT readers'opinions on the naturalness,helpfulness and satisfactoriness of the English translations for three jade artifacts and their expectations for future translations.The hyperlink to the questionnaire was sent and forwarded via e-mail or social networks to 50 participants,who were exclusively non-Chinese speakers.The results of the case study answered the first set of questions:(1)the TTs are easier to read than the CTs and the average proportion of background information in the TTs(about 45%)is smaller than that(about 70%)in the CTs;(2)translators may be held chiefly responsible for the above differences:they may have(a)simplified the STs without amplifying the TTs,(b)been unclear about what kind of information TT readers would wish or expect to be offered,or(c)made inaccurate estimations about TT readers' background knowledge and expectations about TTs.The results of the survey answered the second set of questions:(1)while for 94%of the participants the TTs were not hard to read and for 70%of them the TTs were helpful,only for 34%of them English as used in the TTs sounded natural and for 28%of them the TTs met their expectations;(2)the top three kinds of information that the participants expect to read in English translations of descriptions of cultural relics are:cultural relics' history and historical status,the symbolic meanings of their shapes,names and so on,and their functions in ancient times.These findings provided important implications for translators of descriptions of cultural relics:translators should amplify TTs when simplifying STs,make accurate estimations about TT readers' background knowledge and expectations about TTs,and provide TT readers with the information they need in natural English.This study has limitations with regard to data analysis and theoretical depth.Future studies are suggested to make more specific data analysis to develop specific strategies for translating descriptions of cultural relics and explore the feasibility of the concept of translation as a second offer of to address other topics in non-literary translation.