Compensation In The Translation Of Biography Of I'll Drink To That: A Life In Style, With A Twist

Ideal translation is expected to give the target readers a similar reading experience to which the source readers get from the original text. However, due to the restrictions of subjective and objective conditions, loss is inevitable in translation process, and compensation is an indispensable step to guarantee a complete transfer of source-text meaning, cultural messages and esthetic value. This report, on the basis of the author's translation practice, is an attempt to discuss loss and compensation in the translation process to summarize the strategies used.The source text is extracted from the autobiography I'll Drink to That:A Life in Style, with a Twist coauthored by Betty Halbreich and Paley Rebecca. As Betty and Rebecca write with a tart and funny intelligence, it is a challenge to reflect the original wit and charm in the translation. To be faithful to the source text and minimize the loss in translation in respects of information, function and effects, it is necessary to adopt compensation during the translation process.Firstly, the report reviews the research findings by scholars at home and abroad, covering the interpretations and definitions of compensation, the principles of compensation and the specific application strategies. Secondly, a detailed study has been conducted on loss and compensation in 16 typical examples cited from the author's translation practice in communicative, cultural and esthetic dimensions respectively. It is concluded that compensation plays an indispensable role in dealing with translation loss and the three aspects, i.e. communicative dimension, cultural dimension and esthetic dimension, deserve special attention in terms of compensation.