A Report On The Chinese Translation Of A Woman In China (Chapters 1-3)

In recent years,the travel literatures introduced from foreign countries have been popular among Chinese readers.However,it is the travel literatures about Chinese culture that could attract most Chinese people's eyes in that through these books could we gain more knowledge about the image of China from the eyes of foreigners.Against such background,Guangxi Normal University Press published The Collection of Records about China,which includes A Woman in China,the source text of this translation project.A Woman in China was written by Mary Gaunt,an Australian writer who had a long term curiosity towards China since she witnessed the tough life of the Chinese labors when she was still a child.Although the writer was not a professional reporter or correspondent,her language was vivid and exact.Through her words,the readers can draw a picture of Beijing in the early 1900s.This translation report illuminates how the translator dealt with the difficulties in the aspect of translating lexical expressions,the sentences and the discourse.According to the equivalent effect theory put forward by Professor Jin Di,a serious translator should make the target language readers have a reading experience similar to which is intended to be enjoyed by source language readers.In addition,the translator should use some appropriate techniques to make the equivalence effect come true.Guided by such principles,the translator read some classic Chinese travel literatures and gain more knowledge about their writing style.What's more,some translating techniques,such as adding connection words or changing the original order,were practiced during the translation process in the hope that the translation can be as authentic as the source text.Generally speaking,Jin Di's equivalent effect theory is a practical tool to evaluate the quality of the translation.When it comes to this translation project,it acted as a lighthouse,which encouraged the translator to steadily improve the quality of the translation.In other words,there is still a long way to go before this translation project can be called "a perfect translation".