A Report On The Translation Of The Door (Preface-chapter 2)

This translation report is based on the translation of The Door,which is written by Magda Szabó.The translator renders the Introduction and the First and Second Chapter into Chinese and puts the analysis of the whole translation process into this translation report.This book begins with the author's nightmare.In modern postwar Hungary,an old woman who is now a famous author recalls a nightmare.An important character in her dream is Emerence,a servant of Szabó's family.She is an old woman with a rather crusty character.After finishing the text translation and process analysis,the translator deeply understands the sufferings brought by the Hungarian war as well as the amazing relationship between the author and the servant Emerence.To explore and study the good works is one of the strong impetus for our translation learning.The source text here is literary.The whole translation practice is guided by the theory of functional equivalence and other principles in terms of lexical equivalence,syntactic equivalence and stylistic equivalence.“Functional equivalence” requires that the translation text should achieve functional equivalence in two languages not merely in words and phrases.In other words,it emphasizes that the content is more important than the form in translation process.Besides,Eugene Nida put forward that “translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message,first in terms of meaning,second in terms of style”.Literary language in this text is ambiguous,the translator has to solve this problem during translation process.Therefore,the translator applies some specific methods such as linear translation,adverse translation,free translation and others under the guidance of lexical equivalence,syntactic equivalence and stylistic equivalence to accord the Chinese usage in the process of translation.This report is divided into five parts,namely,introduction,task description,process description,case analysis and conclusion.In the introduction part,the translator generally introduces The Door,its author and the main character Emerence.In the task description part,the translator makes a further introduction to the work,the author and Emerence.The process description part is mainly about the preparation before the translation,the translation itself and the revision after the translation.In case analysis part,the translator mainly makes a detailed analysis of particular examples.In the conclusion part,the translator mainly summarizes what she has gained during the whole translation process,including a better understanding on literary text and its translation as well as certain qualities that a qualified translator should possess.