On The Translation Of Academic Papers From The Perspective Of Functional Equivalence Theory

This commentary will talk about the translation of English academic papers from the perspective of functional equivalence theory.The title of the translated text in the commentary is Information Asymmetries and the Problem of Perception:the Significance of Structural Position in Assessing the Importance of Guanxi in China,an academic paper written by Doug Guthrie.Based on the functional equivalence theory,this commentary will summarize difficulties encountered in the translation practice and explore methods of solving these difficulties.This commentary firstly studies how the functional equivalence theory can be served as the theoretical guidance for translating academic papers from four basic requirements of the principle of "functional equivalence",after analyzing the functional equivalence theory and characteristics of academic papers.And then,the commentary will analyze and summarize difficulties encountered in translation practice,such as how to translate terms and how to reflect the style of academic papers.And methods of solving translation difficulties will be discussed by analyzing examples.Finally,it comes to the conclusion.In translating terms,translators should adhere to the rigorous academic attitude and the spirit of being truthful and practical.In addition to this,translation strategies are:to determine whether it's a term or not in context,to take the method of back translation and to trace the term back to the source when it is necessary.And translators should also carefully identify similar terms and verify the translation by referring to dictionaries,documents,etc.In reflecting the style of academic papers,with regard to the vocabulary,translators shall pay attention to the selection of words,which should be rigorous and objective.In terms of language and sentences,the language should be formal and long sentences should be changed into short sentences.From the perspective of text,the organizing shall be natural and logical.