A Reprot On The Translation Of Empire Of Things:How We Became A World Of Consumers,from The Fifteenth Century To The Twenty-first (Chapter 2)

This is a report on the translation of The Enlightenment of Consumption,the second chapter of Empire of Things:How We Became a World of Consumers,from the Fifteenth Century to the Twenty-First written by Frank Trentmann.The source text includes two parts: the first part broadly discusses the development of consumerism,the enlightenment of consumption,etc.And the second one specifically analyses the topics relating consumption from a micro level.Chapter Two mainly discusses the enlightenment of consumption from four aspects.In order to demonstrate his views,Trentmann analyses advantages and disadvantages of consumption as well as the influences of urban living on consumption,traces the root-causes of impact exerted by trade and empire on consumption,and explores the reasons of growing demand for living things.Trentmann also shows how “a culture of improvement” takes into shape,the differences and connections between things on mind and in reality.From a global perspective,Trentmann shows his opinions on consumpion by adopting facts and cases,which concentrate on taking messages of consumpion.Therefore,the source text belongs to informative texts.Peter Newmark devided the text into six functions and expressive function,informative function and vocative function are the most common ones.For this reason,the author employs Peter Newmark's Text Typology to guide the translation.There are many terms and complex sentences in the source text,thus,what the translator should do first is to accurately reproduce the content of the original text,then,semantic translation should be adopted.In addition,in order to make the traslation conform to the reading habits of the readers,transformation should be conducted in word formation and sentence structure,then,communicative translation should be employed.Under the guidance of these two translation approaches,the author lists the problems from vocabulary,sentence and voice and gives concrete solutions by applying certain methods and skills of translation.This tranlation practice not only assists the author to have a profound understanding of Newmark's Text Typology and consumption,but also makes the author clarify the direction of future efforts.It is not easy to do with translating,because a qualified translator should master translation theory and be skillful in using English and Chinese.Besides,a translator should also have a fund of knowledge as well as good professional qualities.