A Practice Report On The Translation Of Still Waters Under The Guidance Of Hermeneutic Theory

Still Waters is an English prose written by the contemporary British writer Lynn Parr.This evocative prose displays the writer's observations of an amazing ecosystem of the Cornish hedge,and depicts the folklores and the British history.In the preparation session,based on the text analysis,the translator found that there are many terms,elliptical sentences and rhetorical devices difficult to translate in Still Waters.Meanwhile,she searched a number of materials online and communicated with the writer so as to have the answers to the unknown expressions and words.She realized that these terms,sentences and rhetorical devices need further explanations so that the Chinese readers can thoroughly understand.Therefore,George Steiner's hermeneutic theory is adopted to the translation procedure of the prose.Under the guidance of the four steps of George Steiner's hermeneutic theory—trust,aggression,incorporation and restitution and with amplification,adding footnotes and other translation methods,the final translation is easy to understand and the writer's thoughts and emotion are accurately conveyed.The translation of this book is completed by two translators.Therefore,the translator took part in proofreading and editing in order to achieve the consistency of the format,unification of terms and consistency of language style.By applying hermeneutic theory to this translation task,the author believed that it is a practical theory.However,whether this theory can be applied to other kinds of prose needs to be further studied.