Translation Of Chinese-specific Vocabulary In Political Texts From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

As a carrier of culture,language is created and developed in the long period of social practice.Language is the most effective and most frequently used tool when people mean to express their perception towards the objective world and to communicate with each other.Any native language is destined to be influenced by the national culture,which includes geographic position,specific climate,history,tradition and customs,and living habits.Words as the smallest semantic unit,is the closest connection between human life and language.Whenever people use the language to communicate or express,the first and foremost step is to choose the correct word.Thus,the importance of words is self-evident.This thesis intends to cover the following aspects of translating Chinese-specific vocabulary.Firstly,the definition of Chinese-specific vocabulary and the significance of the research is explained.Secondly,the connotation of Chinese-specific vocabulary,categories and its major features will be fully discussed.The previous studies of the Chinese-specific vocabulary is summarized and analyzed.Thirdly,the Skopos Theory as the theoretical foundation of the research is briefly introduced.In this part,the development of the Skopos theory is displayed and the main factors and the three rules of the Skopos theory,namely the skopos rule,the coherent rule and the fidelity rule are explained and so does the relationship of the factors and the rules.Fourthly,some considerations of the translation of the Chinese political texts are presented which mainly deal with the requirements and status for the translators and the features of the Chinese political texts are revealed,followed by the essentials and requirements of C-E translation of political texts.The uniqueness of the Chinese political texts and accordingly the difficulties in translating the texts are made clear.On the basis of these analyses,principles of translating Chinese-specific vocabulary and related translation strategies and methods are fully explored.Furthermore,under the guidance of the three rules of Skopos theory,cases on translating Chinese-specific vocabulary have been presented and applied strategies and methods in the cases according to the theory are studied through descriptive approach and comparative approach.Related considerations are furthered through these case studies.Lastly,it is concluded that cultural background differences between China and the west should be considered inthe translation processes.The function and purpose of the Chinese-specific vocabulary should be reconsidered,the optimal translation strategy should be textfocused and transfer the information correctly,the products of translation should be acceptable for westerners to better understand Chinese culture.Through the appropriate transference of Chinese-specific vocabulary,misunderstandings of Chinese culture can be minimized and culture promotion is accessible.Consequently,the goal of preserving and disseminating Chinese culture can also be attainable.