A Report On E-C Translation Of Travels Of A Pioneer Of Commerce In Pigtail And Petticoats (Excerpt)

This translation report is based on writer's translation of chapter six and chapter seven from the source text of Travels of a Pioneer of Commerce in Pigtail and Petticoats by Thomas Thomville Cooper.These two chapters mainly focus on the encyclopedic knowledge on the journey from Chengdu to Ta-Tsian-Loo(today's Kang Ding area),which includes natural scenery,religious custom,food and costume that the original author saw.Based on the linguistic features of source text and the difference between the source language and target language in terms of expression,the translator finishes the translation of two chapters under the guidance of Jin Di's equivalent effect theory which argues that the object of translation is to seek the functional equivalence rather the formal equivalence.Equivalent effect theory emphasizes that the relationship between the receptor and message should be substantially the same as that which existed between the original receptor and the message,and the equivalence includes the general message,specific facts and ambiance.In this translation practice,the translator addresses problems that she has encountered during the process of translation such as the translation of culturally-loaded words and long sentences.It takes a long time and great effort for the translator to verify and revise the translation-so as to make the translation accurate,smooth and loyal to the source text and most importantly to reproduce the description of the original images so that the target readers may be inspired,moved in the same way as they read the original.The fourth part,as the most important part of this report,focuses on case analysis to illustrate how the translator applies a variety of translation skills such as literal translation and free translation to certain cases.In the final part,the translator comes to a conclusion on this report,which summaries some inadequacies of this translation practice and puts forward relevant advice for further improvement.During the translation of the book Travels of a Pioneer of Commerce in Pigtail and Petticoats,the translator has a good chance to explore Sichuan province and Tibet area from cultural and geographical aspect both in Qing dynasty and at present.And it is also a good chance to study the China in the last decades of Imperial China.