A Report On The C-E Translation Of 500 Attractions In Jiangxi Province (Excerpts) From The Perspective Of Translation Skopos Theory

For foreign tourists,English versions of tourist materials are the primary access to Chinese tourist information.To increase the popularity of scenic spots and spread Chinese culture so as to attract more foreign visitors,it is crucial for us to improve the quality of English translation of scenic spots introduction texts.The book 500 Attractions in Jiangxi Province was compiled by Wu Wenfeng,Deng Bo and Li Ruifeng and published in 2005 by Jiangxi People's Publishing House.Composed of twelve chapters with 220,000 words,this book has illustrations and pictures in it and it is rich in content.It presents Jiangxi's tourism resources and features,providing a window for readers to know about Jiangxi's scenic spots.It is learned that there is no English version of this book.The author translated part of it under the guidance of translation Skopos Theory.The translation Skopos Theory was put forward by Hans Vermeer,a famous Germany translation theorist.Vermeer first formulated his Skopos Theory in his paper Framework for a General Translation Theory.Vermeer holds that the purposes of the translation and the functions of the target text determine the translation methods and strategies.It demands that the translated text should fulfill its intended functions and achieve the purposes.This theory is suitably applied to the translation of such pragmatic texts as scenic spot introduction with strong purposes.This is a translation report based on the author's translation practice of the book500 Attractions in Jiangxi Province,guided by Vermeer's Skopos Theory.The report consists of five parts.Firstly,the author sketches the background information,the objectives and the significance of this translation task.Secondly,the preparations before translation are described,including the collection of information about the relevant terms,Chinese tourism text translation and Skopos Theory,the preparation of translation tools and the making of translation plan.And this part also covers the characteristics of English and Chinese scenic spots introduction texts.Thirdly,thebasic concepts of Skopos Theory are expounded.Fourthly,by combining the Skopos Theory and translation practice,the author elaborates on the translation methods adopted to deal with the difficulties in this task from lexical and syntactical levels.Lastly,the author summarizes the major findings from this translation practice and the problems yet to be solved,and provides some suggestions for further practice.