A Project Report On The E-C Translation Of Opinion Column On The Washington Post

The Washington Post is one of the oldest and most prestigious newspaper in Washington, USA and worldwide, known for its profound analysis and reports on current politics in America. The Opinion Column of this newspaper offers the most insightful opinions and critiques from the best columnists and critics in America.Before commencing writing this project report, the author selects and translates some of the most iconic articles from this column which have provoked heated discussion on current American politics in the hope of providing a new channel for the Chinese people to understand American politics as well as gain exposure to the sentiments of the American populace.News translation has a primary function of transmitting the news, which requires the translator to adhere to the principle of pursuing the truth while keeping the content and meaning of the source text. Meanwhile, as a branch of translation, news translation also participates as a platform for conversion and exchange between different languages and cultures. This integral process enhances mutual understanding and communication between the two peoples. During the entirety of translation process, the translator points out major issues and difficulties in aspects of the lexicon and syntax. Issues and difficulties regarding words consist of the translation of proper nouns, cultural-loaded words, and neologisms; while those regarding sentences mainly lie in the translation of headlines, complex and compound sentences, and sentences with rhetorical devices. The author then continues to rectify them, trying to keep every aspect of the lexicon and syntax perfect. Four strategies are used for lexical translation, namely semantic adaptation, expansion of grammatical units,four-character structure, and annotation. As for syntactic translation, the author mainly employs strategies as adjusting sentence structures for complex and compound sentences, literal translation for sentences with rhetorical devices, free translation for sentences with rhetorical devices, and creative translation for sentences with aesthetic value.In order to achieve the end goal of information equivalence, smoothness and fluency, the author will heavily rely upon the guidance of the German functionalist theories. With the function of the translated texts and the reader-oriented principle in mind, the author tries to ensure a smooth and effective transmission of information.