A Report On E-C Translation Of The Queen Mother (Chapter Three)

Biographical literature is one of the important focuses in the contemporary literature research.The study of biographical literature translation is thus of great significance in that its study can not only promote the cultural exchange between China and foreign countries,but also facilitate the in-depth analysis of biographical literature translation skills.This translation report studies the E-C translation of the third chapter of The Queen Mother(Chapter 3)written by William Shawcross,a famous British biographer.The source text narrates the history of Prince Albert's pursuit for Elizabeth between 1918 and 1923,including the background information on Britain at that time,the relationships between family members,the study and the career of Prince Albert,and his admiration for Elizabeth.Since the original work falls into the category of biographical literature for its concise writing and literary feature,the key points of doing this translation project lie in a full understanding of the source text,especially that of the proper nouns and long sentences,and convey it faithfully and smoothly to achieve a good balance between English and Chinese expression.Due to the factors stated above,the translator chooses her theoretical framework of translation as “Faithfulness,Expressiveness and Elegance”,proposed by Yan Fu as three principles of literary translation.Because there are many proper nouns and involve historical and political background knowledge in the original text,it is a difficult task for the translator to understand and translate.Therefore,the translator constantly learns the background knowledge and translation skills during translation,and thinks about how to deal with proper nouns,long sentences and rhetorical words to improve the quality of the translation.In the process of writing the translation report,the author believes that understanding the background information of the translation project is a prerequisite.Only by studying the translation project and translation theory in depth,can we understand the requirements and practical significance of the project,and choose a suitable translation theory to guide our practice.Through the analysis of some translation examples,the translator realizes when translating English biography into Chinese,the first and most important thing is to fully digest the source text,and then reproduce using Chinese faithfully all the information included in the source text.The style of the source text should be maintained,so that the target readers can glimpse the literary style of the source text and appreciate the genius strokes of the writer,and the language of translation should be smooth and reader-friendly,and the logic of the source text should be made clear in the target text as well.